The First Read

I was going to suggest something, but being a Canadian I am very supportive of the authors from this region, so I am supporting the nomination of The Other Side of the Bridge. I actually adore Mary Lawson. Her first novel was Crow Lake. It came out a few years ago and my friend impulse bought it and loved it. Not being much for borrowing books from my friends, I have too many of my own to read, she insisted, so I sat down with this debut from a fellow Canadian. I enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought my own copy so I can reread it in the future.

Then, last year The Other Side of the Bridge came out, and both me and my friend were very excited to see what Mary Lawson had to offer for her second book. When an author comes out with a first book that is so good, you are always a bit worried about the second. Will it be better? Will it be worse? These thoughts were running through my head, but I read the book very soon after I received it in the mail and I quite enjoyed it. At the time, I probably had a clear idea of which book I liked better by her, but as I look back they were both wonderful reads.

Here is what I had to say about The Other Side of the Bridge when I read it last year: My review. Crow Lake was pre-blogging days.

A Book Question

One of the things I like about groups like this is to be able to ask if people have read books I have been eyeing and see if it is worth buying!

So, my question is has anyone read Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert? I just want to know if I will like it, I read mostly fantasy and historical fiction. I do read a fair amount of non-fiction, though, which I believe this is.

Techno Savvy Me

Since I sort of know what I am doing, I thought I would be the first to pull out a chair and introduce myself. You have a wonderful intro, Bonnie. I have always wanted to live by the water, which is rather funny because I live in Nova Scotia, Canada, and it is not like you are ever really far from the water. I am an ocean person, I love wooden sailing ships and stories of lighthouses lighting peoples path home in stormy weather. Essencia Island reminds me of this island that is in the town that I grew up in. For reasons I have never been able to understand there is a house boat landed on an island there, and when I was a child I used to make up stories about why it was there. Then, I moved away, and when I went home one spring, my precious boat had been destroyed. I was very sad. (The sort of ironic thing is that there is now one of those "touristy" viewers where you can see things up close if you pay a little bit of money, and now the boat is an eye sore.)

Anyways, my computer name is some variation of Kailana. My real name is Kelly. Either name is fine. I have not visited Essencia Island or any of the other variations in quite some time, but I do hope to participate in this one. I just graduated from university in May and my current career plan is to go overseas to teach English for a year starting in January. I love to travel and I have pesky loans to pay off, so this seems to be a logical idea. I will have a computer and I am looking into books, so I will still contribute!

I feel that if we are going to get to know one another, I should talk about books. That is my favourite subject afterall. My reading is rather diverse. I read mostly fantasy and historical fiction. There are a few genres that I am not super fond of but I will make attempts at once in a while. Currently I am trying to read the books nominated for the Giller Award, which is an award in Canada, I was aiming to read all 15, but I can only easily get ten of them. It really bothers me when books are nominated for awards and you can not even buy them! I am immensely patriotic, even if people believe that we are not as patriotic as other countries, I am! I am very proud to be a Canadian, and I try to support it by reading Canadian authors.

Anything I should say? Well, if there is, just ask in the comments.