Mike > Recent Status Updates

I encouraged my Mom to pop into Value Village the other day since we were in the area. Both she and my sister had been lamenting how the prices had drastically increased. They weren't wrong. Compared to the Rotary Club Book Sales at $3/book, the Community Thrift Store $1/book, and even the Salvation Army these prices were ridiculous for a thrift store. Still, at $7.99, I wanted this pristine copy and shelled out.

I was waiting anxiously for this one, checking to make sure it was in stock at the Coles bookstore in Courtenay before racing out to snag a copy. With some remorse I saw that McNally Robinson in Winnipeg had TJ Klune coming for a book reading & signing. I would have loved to have been there for that event. I encouraged my buddy, Jeff, to go and and get my loaner copy of "The House in the Cerulean Sea" signed.

My mom managed to spot and snag this one at the Rotary Club Book Sale in Nanaimo before I could. The book prior in this series stretched credulity and was probably the weakest in the series and Madeleine's involvement was rather odd compared to the previous books. Figured I would keep going with the series instead of spinning off elsewhere in the treasure haul from that last book sale. You just never know though.

My Mom and sister had been touting the Nanaimo Rotary Book Sale for years in comparison to my forays to the Children's Hospital Book Sale in Winnipeg. Covid-19 has prevented these events for the past several years so this a great chance to finally get out there and hunt for books on "The List". Book #4 in this series was pretty over the top but I always enjoy the mystery and the odd relationship with his wife.

Browsing away at "The Crazy Lady's" the other day when the title of this one caught my eye. As I checked out the book flap info and the back cover I became even more intrigued. Have not heard of this award-winning Canadian author before, who lives on Vancouver Island. My Mom got to this one before I did and enjoyed it. Ratings for this one seem a little skewed due to low review numbers but time to see for myself.

This was on sale at my new local Coles...it will never be the same as the one in Winnipeg but that was because of friendships I had with staff there. I didn't pay attention to the fact that this was book 3 in the series and I'm not sure if It have the first two or not...part of the problem of having all my books still packed up in storage. This one hooked me immediately and I will definitely need to get the others.

My Mom unearthed this one at The Crazy Lady's the other and polished it off in a day or two. I introduced her to Lawrence Block way back when I was in university in the early '90's when I was expanding my reading genres after a friend's dad pointed me towards Loren D. Estleman. Bernie is like an old friend that you can cozy up to listen to whatever yarn he wants to spin that remains familiar but with spins.

Found this one at the local community to thrift store which my mom affectionately calls "The Crazy Lady's". Doesn't matter how new or old the book is that you find because they only charge a $1.00 each. I always try to incorporate a book about/involving dogs into my year of reading and something about the blurb suggested that this would be a light, fun, and interesting read. It occupies my time in the bathroom.

Stuck at the airport in Calgary for a few hours waiting on my flight home. This was an impulse buy when I was visiting McNally Robinson a few weeks ago. It was the blurb on the front that caught my attention, "Neither Gillian Flynn, nor Paula Hawkins , nor Alex Michael ides can measure up to Ulstein...a thriller that really stands out." - Aftenposten (Norway). Chris Whitaker also plugs this on the back cover.

All packed and moved, the apartment has been emptied and cleaned and for the first time in decades there are no keys on my key ring. Sleepless from the pain of overexertion and excitement about my flight home. Beautiful day in Winnipeg meant shorts. Flew into a winter storm in Calgary which is causing delays for my flight home to Comox. Good thing I brought books. -15C is not recommended shorts weather!!

3 more days....till my life changes dramatically for the better. Mount TBR, all 2500-3000 lbs, has been packed and stored while waiting to be moved cross-country to Vancouver Island where my Mom awaits my arrival with plenty of yardwork to do while I find another career opportunity. It's been an arduous week packing away all those treasures but it will be a joy to rediscover and share them with my mom. Soon!!!!

I remember enjoying very much reading "So Long, See You Tomorrow" so when I spied this in Bison Books I was excited by the blurb "a book that is as near perfection as it is possible to be - Boston Globe." Aimee, the proprietor was interested as well to see what I would make of this. Eudora Welty added, "...The story's quiet and accumulating power has a dark and disturbing beauty." Time to see if this has clout.

My goodness. This is going to be one of those books. I can't stop taking notes on all these passages. Going to fill up my notebook at this pace. Loving everything that is presented. With something this finely constructed you have to take your time and appreciate the nuances, the tone, the language, and the way it makes you connect and feel what the author is trying to convey. This is happiness, indeed.

Bookflap: Luminous and lyrical, yet anchored by roots running deep into the earthy and everyday, it is about the power of stories: their invisible currents that run through all we do, writing and rewriting us, and the transforming light that they throw onto our world.

Oh yeah...this is gonna be something special!!

I had popped into Bison Books before my trip out west and spied this on Aimee's work desk, along with several other interesting titles. Turns out she had just presented the collection during a section on the local CTV News that morning. Her Mom had read this for her book club as well so all Kid Intuition's initial vibes were rapidly being reinforced. Love the cover for this and hope the title lives up to its name.

I took this one on my recent "working vacation" to see my mom on Vancouver Island. I spent more time working, and watching the Jays play ball than reading though. I also dug my nose into her books while I was there and she kept taking me to the "Crazy Ladies" (a community thrift store) where I kept finding reading distractions for a $1.00 a book!!! I finally have time for a read that might make the "Short-List"!!!

The book previous to this one in the series was "ok". I felt that Flavia's character was lost but there was a huge cliffhanger that encouraged me to delve into this one right away. And just like that Flavia was back in all her attitude, knowledge of chemistry, independent thoughts of poisonous destruction, and knack for sleuthing her way through problems with a new set of mentors to guide and inform her. *smiles*

When I was out visiting my Mom for the past few weeks she took me to the "crazy ladies", a community thrift store. They're always turning over stock cheap and we went several times. The title and simple red cover caught my interest and the blurbs on the back had me intrigued. The first couple of pages had me laughing as I like dark, funny psychology. This book took a beating in reviews. We'll see how it goes.

I got my Mom hooked into this series and she's managed to assemble a nice collection of hardcovers which has me a little envious. I've been wanting to see what happens when Flavia meets her mother. This series always makes me smile while pulling out my dictionary and thinking about what kind of poisonous chemical alchemy Flavia will find herself engaged in. Looking forward to this adventure and the one-liners.

My Mom has a stack of Michael Robotham books that she's planning on passing along to her friend, Tiffany. I started out my year with "Suspect" but the rest of the books are packed up at home. I'm giving serious consideration to horking this copy as it matches the set I'm building, but I do have copies already signed by Michael when I met him at McNally Robinson a few years back. Reading this just in case I waffle!

I was poking around in McNally Robinson waiting for my buddy, Duane, to come pick me up so we could hit the pool and BBQ at his place. Was ecstatic to find this in the bargain section as I hadn't ventured forth when it first came out and had maybe overlooked it in following visits. Love the cover for this one and there is a similar black and white illustration on the inside covers. My book for the plane ride home.

My cousin David bought this for my Mom and it was out on her coffee table the other day when I picked it up and began leafing through it. I'm fairly sure I checked this out at my local Coles before it shut down. An easy 25-30 minute read with lots of laughs, but a few sections that didn't really interest me as much. Pretty sure Miss Lola, my mom's cat, has been studying this and practicing a few techniques!!

Well...supposed to be saving money for my trip out to Vancouver Island to see my family for the first time in about 5-6 years. Mom let me know the Rotary Club has a book sale planned while I'm out there for the next four weeks. I popped into Bison Books on my way home and there's Aimee, the owner sorting through a box and directing me to a few piles of new acquisitions that I must check out...$80 poorer now lol

WTF Goodreads. Something changed with the books I'm currently reading display!!! Someone's mucking around with things!!!

It's been another lengthy stretch since I've cracked open a John Grisham. A conversation with one of my servers at Tavern United, Allie, renewed my interest and also led me to discovering John Hart. I was perusing Bookfair the other day and ran across this copy. This immediately struck me as an interesting standalone, a Southern Gothic, set in a time period rife with a plethora of challenges, both familiar & alien

I've picked up a number of Jim Thompson's books over the years and continue to pick up those that I find in the second-hand stores. They don't necessarily work fir me all the time and I think one has the distinction of being a 2-star read. I found this one in Bookfair for $8 which is a little more than usual for them. I poked my nose into briefly the other day and found myself hooked. Autobiography or fiction?!?

I'd popped into Bison Books the other week & found this on the shelves calling my name. The blurbs on the back extolling "Rust and Bone" by Clive Barker, Joseph Boyden, and Bret Easton Ellis really struck me. I spent a little more one a secondhand book than normal, $15, but this looks like a first edition published by Viking in 2006 which is not listed in the editions Goodreads has listed. Gotta support Canadian!!

I'd popped into Bison Books the other as the proprietor, Aimee, was busy pricing boxes of new acquisitions. So many interesting things. A whole table of philosophy and I think I found this one in there, or maybe that's the way I want to remember it. Figured this would go hand in hand with "Remarkably Bright Creatures" as a kind of joint read but that didn't pan out as planned as RBC completely captivated me.

I can thank my Goodreads friends, Debbie & Cheri, for piquing my interest in this one initially. Glad I paid attention and grabbed a copy when I spied it in Chapters a few weeks ago when I ran out to buy the new Gavriel Kay novel. I was hooked by the first pages of this one though and the original plan was to alternate chapters with "The Soul of an Octopus". It's rare that I finish a book before the status update

I'd poked my nose onto Bookfair the other day and the title of this one caught my eye while I was checking out the fantasy section. When I pulled it out I saw the cover art & blurb, "A story about stories, a book about books and how they open our hearts and minds, The Book of Flying is a fantastical debut novel. It's a great adventure that dares our imaginations to expand. It's touching, magical & heartbreaking."