yoga, writing, cooking, and whatever else catches my fancy
It’s been a good few months for reading — and an even better half year for setting aside books that just aren’t doing it for me! I’ve already DNFed nine books and I feel solid about making the decision nine times not to waste precious reading time on something I wasn’t enjoying.
I do have a few favourites from the books I did finish, though.
Continue reading “Best books from the first half of 2026”
I read a lot in 2025, more than I do in a typical year. I put that down to the aimlessness that often accompanies a relocation, plenty of time in transit, and a wealth of waiting.
Looking through the 98 books I finished last year, I can’t say I’m pleased to have spent time with all of them. About a dozen stand out as ‘meh’ or worse — and that’s on top of the eight titles I did not finish (or DNFed).
My aim for this year is to quit books earlier and more often, all in pursuit of making more space for books I really enjoy — like the dozen or so below.
Continue reading “My Favourite Reads of 2025”
I could not have predicted the tempest in a teapot arising from an article I wrote about a local bookshop accidentally receiving a shipment meant for Kenya. Last Week in Denmark’s social media team posted it on Facebook (link to the post below) and the comments started rolling in.
Most of them positive, but, of course, it’s the negative ones that stung and stick in my mind. I’ve had adverse interactions before on Facebook that were much ruder (which is a huge reason why I don’t use Facebook much anymore). It’s a relief none of the comments were misogynistic or deeply unpleasant, they were just keyboard warrior fare.
Continue reading “Misdirected books and social media melodrama”
I’ve got a thing for libraries. I visit them on vacation (including dragging family members to the main branch of Seattle Public Library shortly after it opened in 2004), make special trips to see them (like a worthwhile pilgrimage to the St Gallen monastery library in Switzerland*), and consider them top post-relocation destinations (even before getting health care sorted). I have a masters degree in Library and Information Studies and, several lives ago, spent many Saturdays doing reference desk duty at a public library.
I borrow hundreds of ebooks and digital magazines every year, although I’d prefer not to disclose precisely how many library cards I currently have 🙈
Libraries are perpetually intriguing to me. My latest fascination is deposit libraries, an old concept with some modern complications.
Continue reading “I love libraries — and their deposits”
It’s a straight white man’s world and there’s no shortage of content produced by and for that demographic. Despite not being how the majority of people identify (at least in my home country, Canada, where about a third of respondents identified as racialised minorities in the most recent census and men make up slightly less than half of the total population), it would be pretty easy to watch, read, listen to nothing but straight white men!
My biggest motivator for seeking out non-white, non-straight, non-male authors (that’s a lot of nons!) is the continued dominance of media and artistic spaces by this group of bros. A disproportionate number of authors, journalists, actors, directors, writers, artists, and musicians come from the same dominant hegemony: heterosexual, caucasian, male and mostly unaware of their privilege.
Continue reading “Why I’m done with straight white men”
Being a student usually means getting involved in campus life; joining clubs, attending social events, creating friendships with fellow students. That’s tough to do with an online program (like the PGDip I’m doing at the University of York), but the pandemic pushing activities online has been a tremendous boon!
I’ve joined the Graduate Students Association for Zoom with a Zoo (so much fun!), signed up for virtual pub quizzes, and become a member of the UoY Feminist Society—all without leaving home. FemSoc members are welcome to contribute to the society’s blog and I wrote a post reviewing Big Friendship by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman. The long-distance friendship angle makes the book even more relevant, but don’t be fooled that it’s a manual for making new friends or maintaining platonic relationships. And the authors aren’t suggesting any shortcuts for the time, energy, and affection necessary to nurture good friendships, whether they’re in-person or over video chat.
Continue reading “‘Big Friendship’ from afar”
Keeping entertained during the novel coronavirus crisis is a balancing act.
I’m torn between wanting to stay informed about the current state of the world (physically distant, begrudgingly hyper-local with an undercurrent of pervasive anxiety) and the desire to dig my head in the sand. I don’t want to numb myself to reality, but I also know that too much awareness about the number of infections, the dangerous absurdities unfolding in the US, and the prognostications on when we’ll return to ‘normal’ (ha!) are bad for my mental health.
Continue reading “Pandemic entertainment”