Sunday, January 31, 2016

Penguin Random House Bingo: A challenge within a challenge...

Nothing has changed, I'm still sticking to my original goal of completing a "T"and my January reads have got me off to a great start with four squares completed. You can check out my progress here.

However, I'm feeling a bit adventurous...

I am going to challenge myself to cross off the infamous "read a book by an author who shares the same initials as you" square. This one has always been tough for me. No matter what combination of initials I use. Whether it be my maiden name (O.M.), or my married name (O.G.) I can never seem to find an author that matches them. So, I'm tweaking it a bit. Rather than Googling my face off to find a book to read, I'm going to instead, count this square complete once I read my three Drop Caps with the letters representing the letters O, M and G. In other words, I'll be reading Butterfield 8 by John O'Hara, Moby Dick by Herman Melville (for the record, this book also scares me so I'll be crossing off that square as well if I manage to finish it) and finally Lord of the Flies by William Golding (Confession: I never actually read this in high school. I opted for Coles Notes version instead and got an A+ on my exam).

How is everyone else doing with their Bingo cards? 


Thursday, January 28, 2016

The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey


Title: The Productivity Project
Author: Chris Bailey
Publisher: Random House Canada
Format: Hardcover
Source: From the publisher
On Sale Date:
Rating★★





Synopsis from the publisher's website:
A fresh, personal, and entertaining exploration of a topic that concerns all of us: how to be more productive at work and in every facet of our lives.

Chris Bailey turned down lucrative job offers to pursue a lifelong dream—to spend a year performing a deep dive experiment into the pursuit of productivity, a subject he had been enamored with since he was a teenager. After obtaining his business degree, he created a blog to chronicle a year-long series of productivity experiments he conducted on himself, where he also continued his research and interviews with some of the world’s foremost experts, from Charles Duhigg to David Allen. Among the experiments that he tackled: Bailey went several weeks with getting by on little to no sleep; he cut out caffeine and sugar; he lived in total isolation for 10 days; he used his smartphone for just an hour a day for three months; he gained ten pounds of muscle mass; he stretched his work week to 90 hours; a late riser, he got up at 5:30 every morning for three months—all the while monitoring the impact of his experiments on the quality and quantity of his work.

Review:
The Productivity Project highlights tips and tricks tested by Chris Bailey during his year long experiment. Chris tested various methods of increasing productivity from committing to meditate 35 hours a week to working shorter days, each of Chris' attempts to increase his productivity brought to light a new learning.The book elaborates on each of these methods leaving tips that both embrace the digital age and lead readers down a more conservative path. He also examines meditation and nutrition as factors that can can impact your productivity.

I quite enjoyed the way this book was laid out. At the beginning of each chapter, the reader is given the major points they are going to takeaway from the chapter and the approximate amount of time it is going to take to read it. This helped set expectations right from the get go. The author also includes mini assignments and tasks to reinforce his points and help the reader practice the skills they have just read/learned.

Chris focuses heavily on the impacts that mediation has on your ability to focus. This was definitely a tip I took to almost immediately. I often use the time on my daily train commute (not always the best environment to try and find quiet) to meditate as it's normally the only time I have to myself. Since starting the mediation, I have noticed that my mind is less cluttered and I'm more prepared to start my mornings than I was in the past.

The second nugget I took away from this book were the coffee consumption tips. I am a 3-4 cup a day coffee drinker. The Productivity Project emphasizes that timing your caffeine intake is important to both your productivity and your ability to sleep at night. I've since changed the way I consume coffee and I do admit I'm feeling less tired in the late afternoons. I supplemented what I learned in the book with the following tips I found on Chris' website about getting the most out of your caffeine intake.

6 ways to get more out of caffeine

  1. Drink coffee/tea over an longer period of time.
  2. If you drink a coffee in the morning, drink water alongside it. 
  3. Stay away from sugary energy drinks. 
  4. Eat very well if you consume caffeine. 
  5. Don’t drink caffeine on an empty stomach. 
  6. Wait before consuming a second coffee/tea

You can read the full article here. Only time will tell whether my new found coffee routine will help me be more productive. My wallet is definitely thanking me for it.

I wish there was more that I could've taken from this book, but the above is a great start. There were many other tips related to reducing the amount of times you check your email and turning off notifications on your phone which I wish I could start doing immediately. Unfortunately, my job relies heavily on both, so it may take some time before I get to reap those benefits. But, with what I've read and tried so far, I think I'm on the right path to become a Productivity Ninja.


Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of The Productivity Project from Penguin Random House of Canada. All opinions are my own.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Canada Reads 2016: A book about making a new start



The 2016 Canada Reads short list and panellists were announced on January 20. This year's competition seeks out a book that best embodies the hardships of making a new start. The debate will take place at the CBC in Toronto from March 21-24 and will be hosted once again by Wab Kinew.

Here are the five books in the short list and the panellist that will be defending them:
  


 I find that Canada Reads is a fun competition to get behind. I mean, a reality show about books? You can't go wrong. I attended in person last year and plan to do the same this year, although, I can't commit to all 4 days this time around. You can reserve your free tickets here. As for the actual reading, I'm hoping to get through and review all five books on my blog before the debates.

If you've ready any of the short listed books or have an early pick, I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.

Happy reading!

*All images are property of CBC.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Teaser Tuesday #16: The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page (some times you need more than two for it to make sense).
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers


This week's teaser comes from The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew

The Reason You Walk is Wab Kinew's personal memoir about his family's history and more importantly his relationship with his father. I am about 4 chapters into this book and I love what I have read so far.

Teasers:
"More than any inheritance, more than any sacred item, more than any title, the legacy he left behind is this: as on that day in the sundance circle when he lifted me from the depths, he taught us that during our time on earth we ought to love one another, and that when our hearts are broken, we ought to work hard to make them whole again.

This is at the center of sacred ceremonies practised by Indigenous people. This is what so many of us seek, no matter where we begin life.

This is the reason you walk." - p3

I'd love to find out what you're reading. Leave a comment and let me know!


Top Ten Tuesday #2: Books I haven't read because I watched the movie instead


It's freebie week for Top Ten Tuesday. I'll be featuring books/series that I've never read because I watched the movie instead. WARNING: Some of these may shock you.


 



Top Ten Tuesday is an original bookish meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. For the list of future top ten topics or details on how to participate, click here.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Monday Shelfie #14


Well, this year is off to a running start! I managed to read four books last week. Each one with a different theme and completely different feel. Here's what I read:

This week, I'll be kicking off my #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks challenge starting with The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew. Wab Kinew was announced as this year's Canada Reads host for the second year in a row. I thought this would be a great way to kick it all off as I'm planning to read the short listed books prior to the debates which take place from March 21 - 24. The second book I have on deck for this week is Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon. I have heard nothing but glowing reviews for this book so, I'm extremely excited to finally get started.




What are you reading this week?





Friday, January 22, 2016

Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

Title: Gratitude
Author: Oliver Sacks
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Canada
Format: Hardcover
Source: From the publisher
On Sale Date: November 24, 2015
Rating★★★






Synopsis from the book jacket:
No writer has succeeded in capturing the medical and human drama of illness as honestly and as eloquently as Oliver Sacks.

During the last few months of his life, he wrote a set of essays in which he movingly explored his feelings about completing a life and coming to terms with his own death.

"It is the fate of every human being," Sacks writes, "to be a unique individual, to die his own death."

Together, these four essays form an ode to the uniqueness of each human being and to gratitude for the gift of life.

Review:
How does one even begin to review this book? No matter what words I use to describe it, it still will not do it justice. The four essays compiled in this collection were written in the last two years of Oliver Sack's life.

The first of essays, Mercury, celebrates the joy of aging. In it Sack's includes, some minor regrets he had but mostly reflects on the enjoyment he's had in his own life and the pleasure of sharing experiences with those who have passed before him.
"One has had a long experience of life, not only one's own life, but others' too."
Mercury is followed by My Own Life. A brief retelling of the emotions and thoughts going through Sack's mind as his condition had worsened. The third essay, My Periodic Table relates to the treatment of his ailments. The fourth and final essay, Sabbath, he retells parts of his family life, upbringing and religious beliefs.

Gratitude is a small book packed with a ton of emotion and food for thought. It's intriguing and uplifting to see inside the mind of someone who knows that the end is near. This is a book that I know I will cherish for many, many years.


Disclaimer: I received a finished copy of Gratitude from Random House Canada. All opinions are my own.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

2016 Reading Challenge: #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks

When I started my blog last year, I simply wanted to read more and open my mind up to a variety of books. I feel that I definitely achieved that. Going into this year, I sat and pondered about which reading challenge I would participate in. Most of them required me to go out and buy a few books (not really a bad thing!) but, I really wanted to find a way to motivate myself to read what I already have at home. This lead me to the #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks challenge. This one suited me the best. I have a whole bookshelf of review copies and books I bought on impulse book hauls that are yearning to be read. Not to mention a complete set of Penguin Drop caps that need their spines broken in. So, here on in begins my challenge. I will be adding to this list once I do a walk through of my entire house because there are books EVERYWHERE. Wish me luck!

Here is my TBR list (in no particular order) for the #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks challenge as of January 20. I'll be posting updates throughout the year:

  • Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
  • All the Bright Stars by Jennifer Niven
  • I'll give you the Sun by Jandy Nelson
  • A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
  • An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
  • The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
  • The Little Old Lady Strikes Again by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
  • Cinder by Marissa Meyer
  • Scarlett by Marissa Meyer
  • Cress by Marissa Meyer
  • A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E.Schwab
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 
  • Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew
  • The Courtesan by Alexandra Curry
  • Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg
  • The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende
  • Cracked  by Barbara Leslie
  • My Antonia by Willa Cather
  • The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 
  • Middlemarch by George Eliot 
  • Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert 
  • Lord of the Flies by William Golding 
  • Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse 
  • An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro 
  • A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce 
  • The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
  • Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee 
  • Moby-Dick: or, The Whale by Herman Melville 
  • Five Children and It by E. Nesbit 
  • Butterfield 8 by John O'Hara 
  • Swann's Way by Marcel Proust 
  • The Greek Coffin Mystery by Ellery Queen 
  •  Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie 
  • Cannery Row by John Steinbeck 
  • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan 
  • Kristin Lavransdatter: the Wreath by Sigrid Undset 
  • Candide: Or Optimism by Voltaire 
  • Leaves of Grass and Selected Poems and Prose by Walt Whitman 
  • Sky Burial by Xinran
  • When You Are Old: Early Poems and Fairy Tales by W.B. Yeats 
  • The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón 

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Top 10 Tuesday #1: Top Ten Books I've Recently Added To My TBR


The books that I've recently added to my TBR, with the exception of a few, are finished copies of books that I have received from publishers and still have yet to read.

1. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

2. Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard

3. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

4. The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew

5. Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

6. The Courtesan by Alexandra Curry

7. Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg

8. The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

9. Cracked  by Barbara Leslie

10. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood
This is the first Top 10 Tuesday that I have had the pleasure of participating in. Look out for my future posts in the coming weeks.

Top Ten Tuesday is an original bookish meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. For the list of future top ten topics or details on how to participate, click here.

Teaser Tuesday #15: Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page (some times you need more than two for it to make sense).
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers

This week's teaser comes from Gratitude by Oliver Sacks

Teasers:
"Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure." p20

Monday, January 18, 2016

Monday Shelfie #13


I surprisingly met my goal last week of reading two books. I'm hoping to keep the momentum going.

I'm still making my way through The Productivity Project by Chris Bailey. My on the train reading hasn't been as productive due to all of the delays. I'm hoping this week will be different. Although, I am having a bit of trouble with this one.

The second book I have on my list for this week is Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard. Last year, I fell in love with her debut novel Red Queen. This book is a compilation of two short prequel stories about two prominent characters in the trilogy. The second instalment of the series, Glass Sword, will be released on February 9. It's one of my most anticipated books of 2016.

What's on your list for this week?

Sunday, January 17, 2016

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondō

Title: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Author: Marie Kondō
Publisher: Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Release Date: October 14, 2014






I picked up a copy of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up as an impulse buy while waiting in line at my local Chapters. This was over 6 months ago! Since then it's been sitting in my growing TBR pile just waiting to be read.

I then found out it was The Morning Show Book Club's January pick and it quickly jumped to the top of the heap. About ten pages in, I was instantly hooked and completely regretted not reading it sooner.

Marie Kondō retells stories of her childhood that have lead her down the path of being a tidiness expert. She also provides details of encounters with her clients. Each chapter provides detailed ways to keep your home clean and reduce the amount of clutter around you.

As I flipped through the pages, there were many eye opening moments where I noted down small steps I could take to maintain order in our house. I found this book to be so inspiring and invigorating. The day after I completed it, I attacked my clothes closet and drawers.  I laid out all my clothing and asked myself, "Does this spark joy?". A few items were harder to part with than others, but the end result, for me, were three bags full of clothes I no longer needed, a closet that was organized and drawers that proudly displayed their contents.


My closet adventure is just the start. I'm going to be doing the same exercise with my kids' clothes, toys and our linen closet next weekend. The  kitchen and bathroom tidiness tips will also start making their way throughout our home. My family has noticed the definite change in my mindset and appear to be behind me. Only time will tell whether these new methods will stick.

This is a book that I would recommend to those who are looking for a place to start. It may be hard to believe that reading a simple book will jump start your tidiness movement, but I encourage you to give it a try. Happy tidying!

"As for you, pour your time and passion into what brings you the most joy, your mission in life" 



Rating★★★

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Teaser Tuesdays #14: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondō

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page (some times you need more than two for it to make sense).
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
This week's teaser comes from The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō

Publisher: Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group
Publishing Date: October 14, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

Synopsis:
This guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list).

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this book featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire

Teasers:
"Marathon tidying produces a heap of garbage. At this stage, the one disaster that can wreak more havoc than an earthquake is the recycling expert who goes by the alias of "mother". p46

"The fact that you possess a surplus of things that you can't bring yourself to discard doesn't mean you can't bring yourself to discard doesn't mean you are taking good care of them. In fact, it is quite the opposite." p126


Monday, January 11, 2016

Monday Shelfie #12: Baby Steps...


Getting back in to the groove of reading and reviewing has been a tough mountain to climb, in fact, I still have yet to strap on my backpack. With that said, I'm taking baby steps. Gone are my ambitious days where I would pledge to read 5 or 6 books a week. With work in full swing and caring for my threenager and adventurous one year old, reading time is at a minimal. But the fight goes on...

Here's what's jumping off my shelf this week:

To and from work I'll be attempting to read the Productivity Project by Chris Bailey.Living in a fast paced world and for me, working in an even faster paced industry, leaves very little time for fun. My goal is that after I finish reading this book, it will help organize my thoughts and help make small changes to my everyday life. These changes, I hope, will keep me focused on using my time wisely and result in even more precious time spent with my family.





Book #2 is an ARC that comes courtesy of HarperCollins Canada. This is Where The World Ends is a YA contemporary novel by Amy Zhang. This was a book that I requested last year after I read Falling into Place. I really admired Amy Zhang's writing. Her characters felt so real and believable. I'm hoping this carries on to her latest novel. 


What are you reading this week?


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