Nov 17
Don DeLillo has several books on the 1001 list and a few of us predicted that his latest book would make the Man Booker longlist. One of our contributors hated the book and another contributor loved it. Let us know what you thought of it. Here’s my (Book Worm’s) review of the book. Read more
Nov 14
Looking for some good gift ideas for the book lover in your life? We may have the answer. I’ve been working hard on developing a new line of soy candles inspired by literary works. Each candle is handmade with all-natural soy wax, and inspired by a book that I have personally read. When possible, I’ll try to add bookish candles based on novels that we’ve featured on the blog.
You can purchase these candles on my Etsy store: Off the Page Boutique.
Why this new endeavor? First, I personally love candles. Plus, unlike standard candles, soy wax candles are clean burning with no toxins or carcinogens that are found in paraffin candles. They also are longer lasting (burning 30-50% longer than standard candles) and help support local farmers. While there are a variety of literary candles out on the market, very few are inspired by classic literature and children’s books.
Second, I wanted to help raise a little money to give better prizes out on our blog. We host several reading challenges throughout the year and I’d like to avoid having to pay for prizes out of my own pocket. Selling these candles on Etsy will help me raise money for the blog so we can up our game on prizes.
So I hope you check all check it out my store and maybe even buy a candle. Unfortunately we are currently only selling in the U.S. and Canada but may expand to international shipping if there is enough demand. We have 5 different candles currently listed including a chocolate fudge candle inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a Lemon Pound cake one inspired by Alice in Wonderland, a Christmas Hearth one inspired by A Christmas Carol, an English Garden candle inspired by The Secret Garden, and a Midnight Spice (citrus with indian herbs) inspired by Midnight’s Children.
Future bookish candles will be arriving soon and include the following books as inspiration:
Memoirs of a Geisha – Bamboo, lemongrass, and green tea
Sense and sensibilities by Austen – Lavender & vanilla
Winter by Marissa Meyer – Apples and Maple Bourbon
To Kill a Mockingbird – Caramelized pralines
Brief History of Seven Killings – Caribbean Teakwood
The Sellout – Cinnamon buns & coffee
A Fine Balance – Cinnamon chai
Anna Karenina – love spell (apple, lilac, & musk)
James and the Giant Peach – peach nectar
Anne of Green Gables – Meadow (cut grass and floral)
Cider House Rules – Mulled cider and chestnuts
Which books would you like to see adapted into candles? You can visit our store here: Off the Page Boutique
Nov 9
Here are five books that are well suited for today (now please excuse me while I go cry in a corner)… Read more
Nov 7
I was hoping to get to this book so that Book Worm and I could post a joint review. Unfortunately life got in the way and I stunningly have read nothing in the last week. I have been working out some details for our next reading challenge so stay tuned to learn more about that (coming very soon). I’ve never been a huge fan of Zadie Smith’s work. I think she is brilliant and clearly very intelligent but I’ve never really connected with her novels. Keep reading to see Book Worm’s review of Zadie Smith’s newest book coming out this month. Read more
Under a Pole Star by Stef Penney
Published in: 2016
Reviewed by: Book Worm
Rating: ★★★
Find it here: Under a Pole Star
This ARC was provided by Quercus Books (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Summary from Goodreads: Flora Mackie was twelve when she first crossed the Arctic Circle on her father’s whaling ship. Now she is returning to the frozen seas as the head of her own exploration expedition. Jakob de Beyn was raised in Manhattan, but his yearning for new horizons leads him to the Arctic as part of a rival expedition. When he and Flora meet, all thoughts of science and exploration give way before a sudden, all-consuming love.
The affair survives the growing tensions between the two groups, but then, after one more glorious summer on the Greenland coast, Jakob joins his leader on an extended trip into the interior, with devastating results.
The stark beauty of the Arctic ocean, where pack ice can crush a ship like an eggshell, and the empty sweep of the tundra, alternately a snow-muffled wasteland and an unexpectedly gentle meadow, are vividly evoked. Against this backdrop Penney weaves an irresistible love story, a compelling look at the dark side of the golden age of exploration, and a mystery that Flora, returning one last time to the North Pole as an old woman, will finally lay to rest.
Book Worm’s Thoughts: Having read and enjoyed The Tenderness of Wolves, I was excited to read this latest book by Stef Penney. Although it sells itself as a romance novel, that aspect of the book was actually the least interesting for me. The best parts were the details of exploration and survival.
Under a Pole Star is set in the early days of Artic exploration when the pole was yet to be discovered and there were miles of land just waiting to be claimed by the plucky British or Americans (yep they totally disregarded any claim that the native people might have to the land).
The frozen landscape is central to the story, showing how hardy the Inuit have to be to survive there year round and how tough the conditions are on those who are not native to the land. It also shows how English and American greed leads to tragedy for everyone involved with the exploration.
The book is scattered with Inuit words and with details and images of the stars used for navigation. This is an ambitious book that doesn’t really deliver on the romance, but that transported me to the frozen lands of the North.
Who would enjoy this? This is a long and detailed book so I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone looking for a light romance, instead if you are interested in details about polar exploration and survival with romance as a sideline then this could be the book for you.
Want to try it for yourself? You can find a copy here: Under a Pole Star
We want to hear from you. Do you plan to read this book? Why or why not?
Nov 1
It is finally time for our October Monthly recap! Find out which books were favorites and which were duds. We’ll end our wrap up with a a list of books due out this month and a glimpse of our upcoming content. We also want to hear from you so let us know what you read this month and what you look forward to reading in November.
Read more
Oct 31
Happy Halloween! I’m a bit of a whimp when it comes to reading horror or scary books so this year I was pleased with the book Book Worm and I selected for our Halloween read: Midwich Cuckoos. Check out what we thought of the book and scroll down to see my top ten list of Halloween reads. Read more
Oct 25
The 2016 Man Booker Award winner was announced this today. Yesterday our panel made final predictions and we were pretty evenly split between The Sellout and Do Not Say you Have Nothing with Thien’s book having a slight edge. And the prize went to…
Congrats to Paul Beatty in his much deserved win. While I personally was rooting for Madeleine Thien’s book, I thought the Sellout was superb and worthy of the win. All 5 of our panelist read this book before the shortlist announcement and we had predicted it would make the shortlist. Kate and Nicole also predicted it would win the whole thing.
Paul Beatty is the first US author to win the Man Booker!
We want to hear from you! What do you think of the judges’ decision? Do you think the book deserves to win the prize? If not, which book should have won?
Oct 24
The time has come for our panel of judges to predict the final winner of the Man Booker 2016 Prize. Tomorrow the finalist will be announced. Here’s who we think will take home the final prize… Read more
Oct 22
Hello fellow readers and welcome to the 9th hour of the Readathon! We are really excited to be hosting our very first mini challenge. For those of you new to our blog, we hope you take the chance to check it out and if you like what you see follow us here, twitter, Facebook, or Instagram!
As book lovers, we know that the book is always better than the movie and we’ve probably all been baffled at some of Hollywood’s choices when it comes to casting our favorite book characters (um, Demi Moore as Hester in the Scarlet letter anyone??). Well now it’s up to you to correct Hollywood’s mistakes. We’re calling all armchair casting directors and asking you to list who you would cast for your book.
The challenge: Tell us (in the comments section of this post) which book you are currently reading and give us your casting choices for the book’s main characters. Tell us who you cast, for what role, and why they fit the role. If you are reading a book that has already been made into a movie, re-cast it with different actors. We will randomly select a winner from among all entries.
Want to step up your game? Post a photo of your casting choice(s) on twitter or instagram with the hashtag #castyourbook.
The prize: Your choice of $15 Amazon or Book Depository gift certificate and a $15 gift card to AMC. Please note that if the winner is an international (outside the US) reader then the prize will be a $30 Amazon gift card since AMC gift cards are only redeemable at movie theaters in the U.S. I’ll contact the winner within a few hours of the close of the mini challenge.
We can’t wait to see what you all come up with for your casting decisions. Thanks for stopping by and happy reading for the rest of the day!
Winner: And the randomly selected winner for this challenge is…Stormi Johnson. Congrats! I will be contacting you over email to arrange your prize.
The Reader's Room 