I discovered your channel through this video. Happy Reading! 😎📚👍

How wonderful to watch two new videos, Heather! I read only one Atwood novel (of course the one everyone reads, The Handmaid’s Tale) and I had such high expectations. But I found her writing not that great, personally. I think she is indeed regarded THE Canadian writer of our time, interesting to learn how she actually represents just a part of Canada.

Your review makes me want to retry reading Orbital. Normally, I love a book this; I think I wasn't in the right frame of mind the first time and didn't finish it.

Brilliant to see you pop back up with this one! 👍

So sad to hear how you feel about more recent deckled edges, but you are not alone by any means. My husband loves Folio Society books and they are just decorative to me. As they are very expensive, so I do find that annoying. Thank you so much for doing this tag! 💛

That’s crazy about the academic ebook prices! I did notice on a university press site I was looking at that the ebook was the same price as the hard cover and I thought that was ridiculous but $500! I’m with you Heather, don’t really care about the aesthetics of books or other peoples bookshelves 🤷‍♀️

Thank you for the detailed captions. "gratuitous street noises" made me laugh :) I love books like this too, they have a history! I just noticed my own copy of a Virginia Woolf book is annotated and has someone's name written in it, along with some notes about a university class - I looked them up and they still live in Edmonton, are a little older than me, so they probably read it for a class at University of Alberta in the mid 90s. It also have a few phone numbers jotted down, sans area code. I love that!

I would love to see a library tour or a video about some of your favorite books on your shelves! 💜

glad to hear your getting sober from the library babe. we were worried about u.

Heather, you've mentioned before that a lot of what you read has to do with libraries and their practices (curation maybe?) in the early twentieth century. Are you "just" a passionate amateur or do you teach and publish about these subjects, too? I'm just wondering how you might have found yourself stumbling across someone like Eliza Ritchie. And if you don't want to share, I completely understand. Whenever I watch one of your videos, I get a bit jealous that I'm not as wide-ranging a reader, or nearly as quick as you are. I'm lucky to finish thirty to forty books a year. And congratulations on making it to October before you broke down and visited the library.

Oh I'm the same at the library! Though luckily (?) I can only get 15 out at a time. I've had my eye on The Story of Jane for a while! Hope you get to some shorties! Siân ❤

I'm not sure I trust you'll make it through this month without borrowing but I do wish you all the luck. University Women and Organizing Women are going on my TBR. Your rule this month is No Borrow, mine is No Burrow. 😅 Happy reading!

I have about 40 books borrowed from the library right now, but I will read very few of them. I will bring most of them back unread, and I am ok with that. I love the idea of a no borrow month, though for me, it would be to force myself to read the books that I buy rather than the books from the library. Good luck with your challenge!

I'm sorry that you have to deal with the construction...we had to go through that a few years ago and it was such a headache! I usually do my filming in batches on days that I have to put make up on! I like it because it gives me some flex time in terms of editing and posting.

Heather, did you ever read "In The Freud Archives"? If so, what did you think? I've been interested in it ever since I noticed NYRB reprinted it several years ago.

So sorry to hear about your ankle - that sounds painful. Hope it continues to heal well. I hadn't heard of Disc System before - Kinauvit? sounds fascinating. And I haven't read (or heard of) Sylvia Townsend Warner before. In the Upper Country sounds interesting. From the U.S. perspective, I have often read books about runaway slaves that basically end with - "and they got to Canada, The End." So, it would be interesting to read a story about what happens next. The Love Songs of WEB DuBois is on my want-to-read list. Sounds like July was a good reading month for you! Best wishes for quick healing!

How am I just figuring out that you are Canadian? 😅 sorry to hear about your ankle, I sprained mine last June and it still acts up occasionally. I will look for the Dunning at the library.

Sorry to hear about your ankle Heather, I hope it’s feeling quickly. Pain and reading don’t go together well! These all sound so interesting, I keep meaning to read Sylvia Townsend but haven’t picked her up yet, I’ll take your advice and not start with this one though.

Just this morning, I saw that New Directions was publishing The Halt During the Chase and I had added it to my pre-order list! What a coincidence! Also, Sylvia Townsend Warner is also one of my favorite authors (maybe my favorite?) but I haven't read the Don Juan book. Will be eager to hear what you think of it! Thank you so much for sharing this great update!

Happy to see you back and I hope that life is improving so we can keep you here!

Good Saturday, Heather. I too just purchased a copy of Du Bois. Plan to read in preparation for reading Love Songs. My education or exposure to black literature is lacking but I've think I've made a valiant effort in the last 5 yrs. Also reading a little book by Farah Jasmine Griffin _Read Until You Understand_ the profound wisdom of black life and literature. And in fiction, _The Last Wild Horses_ by Maja Lunde and still struggling through Great Expectations I started in Dec. and enjoyed a reread of The Good Lord Bird and Julius Winsome. I read an article about the Japanese word , Tsundoku. I think, roughly translates to that stack of books you have but haven't read. I think the gist of the article was unread books on your shelves are a good thing and just knowledge waiting for you rather than a task to complete. I have quite a few unread on my shelves and at 70 I wonder at the wisdom of that not to mention rereads. I have an recent ongoing debate myself every time I make a book purchase. Apparently, my illogical self is winning the debate as I am still buying books. Enjoyed your video.

Savage Coast sounds really interesting but yes, I’d probably have to brush up on the Spanish civi war. I’m also planning on rereading Where Angels Fear to Tread for Jen’s project, it’s definitely not his strongest but it’s a real mix of tragic and funny if I remember rightly. I know what you mean about the library Heather, I have to limit my borrowing because I certainly have enough books at home!

Enjoyed your video. Interesting selections! Added them to my mountain of a tbr. I too enjoy Antarctic exploration literature. I don't think I've read a lot if any from the spouse or family perspective. Happy retirement! When I first retired I found the lack of schedule or structure a little disconcerting. But now, after eight yrs I'm happily unscheduled and unstructured! Hope you have a wonderful reading yr!

Hi Heather, some really great reads here, especially the non fiction and both the Tove Jansson and Maggie O’Farrell sound like my kind of read- I look forward to your thoughts.

I love Tove Jansson. Everything I have read by her I have walked away smiling. I'm looking into Ducks. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.

So enjoyed your thoughts. I have read Simpson before and enjoy her writing but not certain about this collection. Are they actual letters/correspondence? If so, that itself seems a rarity. Wishing you the best, I've had a difficult summer myself. Good health is such a joyous thing! Thanks for taking time to film.

Jim makes a lot of great tags. It was nice hearing your answers here.

Some great recommendations. Georges Simenon is a mixed bag, I'm afraid. I have never been blown away by his writings.

A few weeks ago I found that same edition of Tale of Genji in perfect condition at the only used book store in my area. I've read parts of it decades ago but I'm hoping to read the whole thing soonish. Eight Men Speak went immediately on my wish list. Middlemarch and SoS, eh? Eep, I haven't read them. A shamefaced defense: I will be reading Middlemarch in October.

Thanks for doing the tag! 200+ books, wow! I’ve never read that much in a year 👍 Stay cool 🧊

Thanks for tackling the tag :) Great answers. @How the one armed sister sweeps her house" is definitely on my radar a lot of booktubers rate it highly. 227 is a lot of books in a year. I managed just 70 last year (not that it is a competition, as you aptly remind us). I see the Pope is visiting Canada to apologise to the indigenous peoples at present, there is a lot to apologise for...

Losing focus is a natural side-effect of paying attention to the despicable, upsetting stuff in the world. Sometimes I find it difficult to even comment on booktube when I'm distracted by all the upsetting news. Passat is fascinating! Thank you for bringing her to my attention. Ah! I appreciate your thoughts on the Simenon. I was thinking of trying that series as a break from my usual reads. I'll look elsewhere now.

So happy to see you back! Last week my husband was asking me about Canadian booktubers and I was telling him about your channel, how much I've enjoyed it, how I hope you'd make more videos. :) Looking forward to the Maynard/Simpson book, too. I'm going to need to get my hands on the Belcourt. Ducks sounds intriguing. I worked in Alberta on the rigs when I was young and that experience shaped me in profound ways.

When I did this tag, I picked Christi Belcourt’s art book as the most beautiful too. I didn’t know that Kate Beaton has a new book. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. 😊

It’s good to see you back! You’re making me want to re-read Middlemarch.

Definitely looking for more Canadian literature. I feel like the majority of English literature is either British or American, so it's nice to see stories like Astra (which I've never actually heard of) that discuss diverse parts of the country. I think there's this image of Canada from the outside of it always having first-world luxuries, and consisting mostly of middle-class people of European descent, but it's cool to see the complexities of the nation through literature. Thank you so much for posting!

Even though you didn't make a lot of content this year, I am grateful for what you've made. Your reads introduce me to books I haven't heard about elsewhere. Thank you! For example, I've been lazily on the lookout for a book like Dukesang Wong's for years. I had no idea that one existed. I am interested in A Little Devil in America but was a little put off by it being half memoir. Glad to hear it works well. I hope 2022 doesn't eat your brain as well. Good thing you got Big Brain and you still have lots left. 😁

Thanks for bringing the McLaren to our attention. I'll definitely seek that out. I'm always looking for more Canadian nonfiction that isn't memoir.

Interesting to hear more about Swimming Back to Trout River. You've included some details that I hadn't heard in other reviews, so thanks for that. 👍

You're reading such an intriguing collection of books! I'm not familiar with most of them, but they all sound interesting and unique! Enjoy your books!

Nice to "meet" you, Heather! Wow, you've been reading such interesting books lately! I haven't read (or heard about, except for A Psalm for the Wild-Built) any of these, but they all sound fascinating - and set all around the world! I love to read books set in different places. Great update! Enjoy your books!

Great video! Did you know Rick is spinning the wheel again on the 28th. I started Christina Lamb’s Our bodies, their battlefield but I set it aside. I just couldn’t take it at the time. I plan to pick it back up soon, it sounds like it’s going to be even more of a struggle than I thought 😊

Yay, another Canadian! I'm happy to have found your channel. Looking forward to going back through your videos.

Great selections, and lovely analysis--I'm glad to have followed your comment here 🙂

Hello! I just finished Lean Out by Tara Henley, and she has an interesting mention of the mayor of Bogota and how to make city planning aim at happiness and equality rather than the status quo. Your public transit point brushes up against this...interesting discussion! :D

Nice to see you again! The only book that I’ve heard of from your stack is The Slaves of Solitude which I thought was okay. I’m interested in Katherine Mansfield. I’ve never read her, but I remember her being on my Dad’s shelf when he was a college English professor. What is she like?

It's nice to see you back.

I can barely even hear you in this video.

Thank you for this beautiful video. “We need to cry off camera”-indeed! So many of your suggestions are fantastic. I love that you are going to participate in budget discussions. And best of all is your call to expand our kinship circle. ♥️

Nice to see you back! Interesting to hear your thoughts on In the Dream House. I am looking forward to reading it sometime soon. Good Talk sounds fascinating, too. How wonderful to at least have the new Mantel to keep you company during this great closing. I hope we will all be able to read and concentrate again soon as we settle into new patterns a bit more.