Originally intended to simply focus on book reviews, over time, KaliDesautelsReads has morphed into its own entity.
I write about issues that are near to my heart, be they political, feminist, motherhood, mental health, or, as the title holds, books.
A thirty-something Canadian woman in my mid-thirties, I have been “super married” to my high school sweetheart since 2006, and together we have two crazy, clever, kind, hilarious, wonderful kids.
My first book – How Not To Blog: Finding Myself, One Post at a Time is available on Amazon (in eBook formats for you clever tech readers, and paperback for those of us who love that new book smell!)
I have tried a podcast – it’s still on Apple and Google Podcasts – but writing is where my heart is.
My life changed dramatically when my husband was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer in 2018, and I am now a writer for a leading Canadian Cancer Non-Profit.
I am lucky enough to have a family that loves me and pushes me to be my best, even if it is outside of my cushiony comfort zone. I have a village of friends that nourish me, mentally, and spiritually.
Welcome to my thoughts. Sit down. Stay a while. Enjoy a cup of coffee!
In a continuation of my Forster kick, I finished A Room With A View and moved immediately into Howards End, which I enjoyed even more. Howards End follows three families – the Schlegels, the Wilcoxes and the Basts, who are interconnected in so many ways, yet come from completely different places in life. The Wilcoxes are selfish, well-to-do and greedy; the Schelegels are idealistic, altruistic and progressive; the Basts are penniless, hard working and “low class”. I fell in love with Helen Schlegel from the opening scene when she wrote a highly emphatic note of bohemian romanticism to her sister, and adored her more and more as her strength of character was revealed. I feel it is important to remind that EM Forster was a man, writing about women’s issues and class struggles. During a dramatic scene, Margaret Schlegel confronts her husband about the unfairness of how women in the same situation as a man are treated so completely different. There is mention of women having influence rather than rights, as well as Forster discussing the absurdity of societal convention and the class system. To be fair, Forster’s idealism was not an intersectional one – the feminism is intended for white women, and the working man is a white man, but what strikes me as ahead of his time is the fact that over 100 years ago, Forster satirized and attacked conventions that we are still discussing today. If a reader enjoys Edwardian writing, full of dialogue and descriptors, I would highly recommend Howards End. 343 pages
EM Forster’s Edwardian classic A Room With A View is the story of Lucy Honeychurch and the travails of her rigid upper middle class society life. The reader first meets Lucy as she tours Italy with her spinster cousin, Charlotte Bartlette, the latter of whom is lamenting not having a view at the hotel at which they have arrived. Sitting near them are Mr Emerson Sr and Mr George Emerson, his son, who overhear and promptly offer their rooms, as they have a view and do not care whether they do or not. This simple exchange sets off a series of miscommunications, misunderstandings and revelations about the class system in England at this time. Lucy becomes engaged to the tiresome Cecil, is sought after by the younger Emerson, and bothered by her artificially self-effacing cousin, a pair of clergymen, gossiping old ladies, her elitist mother, and her brother. As is common for books of this age, there is a lot of discussion about the “right sort of people”, and that women are meant to be married to be happy and fulfilled. Interestingly, Forster, while still appealing to the population of the day, allows a touch of modern feminism to help define Lucy, and her need to be free from constraints of society. A shrew skewering of society at the time, I recommend A Room With A View to readers who adore classic literature, and popular Edwardian writing styles, which do tend to include quite a lot of exclaiming, and crying by the characters. 321 pages.
In 1908, a Canadian author named Lucy Maud Montgomery introduced the world the idyllic Prince Edward Island of her childhood. She presented the land through the eyes of her little orphaned girl, Anne-with-an-e Shirley. For over 100 years, readers have fallen in love with the hot tempered, imaginative, verbose, loving Anne, and she became a classic of children’s literature.
When I was seven years old, my family moved clear across the country to Nova Scotia, one of Canada’s Maritime provinces. Being from the much younger British Columbia, I was not used to seeing centuries old cemeteries dotting suburbia, or Victorian Grande Dames, or Maple trees, or tiny village churches, or Anne. In the East, I missed my home, I missed my grandparents, I missed my friends. A child with a big imagination, I would squeeze my eyes shut if I woke up at midnight, until the clock turned 12:01, convinced that the witching hour was over; I would turn my head when we passed the cemeteries in the dark; I slept with a night light for fear of the dark.
That night light served a dual purpose – by it, the witches could not reach me; by it, I could read. We visited PEI and Green Gables around that time, and my mom gave me her pristine collection of Anne of Green Gables books. I devoured them. Her was a skinny girl, like me, who imagined things, like me, who read voraciously, like me, who desperately wanted to please everyone around her, like me, and talked everyone’s ears off, like me. She had freckles, bony knees, and an often inappropriately used enormous vocabulary that included gorgeous words like “tragical” and “dramatical”. In my eyes, Anne was a much braver version of me. I loved her. I dared not walk on any kitchen ridge poles, but my god would that I could! She loved with passion, she had “kindred spirits” and “bosom friends”, she was prideful, she spoke her mind, she fell into “the depths of despair”, and Matthew was clearly an iteration of my twinkling, loving, patient Grampa.
I read the books, I read them again, and I read them, and read them, and read them. The covers are no longer pristine, some of the covers are barely hanging on. I know which pages have the typographical errors, I know where the ink smudged, I know where Anne bursts out angrily, I know where Marilla purses her lips, to keep from laughing. And then my mom introduced me to the VHS tapes of Megan Follows depicting Anne on television. I loved the show. I could recite it, I adored seeing Anne smash the slate over Gilbert’s head for calling her “Carrots” in living colour. Megan Follows was beautiful, her big eyes and upturned nose, her read hair. I loved her. Yet, this was not the Anne I pictured when I read my books. I saw the musical version of Anne, and I loved it, but again, this was not my Anne. So, I kept re-reading my books and my Anne would show up.
Www.imdb.com
This year, my sister invited us to come watch the premiere of CBC’s new Anne, starting Amybeth McNulty. While sadly not filmed on the Island, like the Megan Follows version, I have finally found the Anne of my imagination. I saw the beautiful, saturated close up posters of McNulty in her wild flower daisy chain, her eyes looking directly at the camera, freckles prominent, red wisps flying out of her braids, and it was her. The incredible, daring, gorgeous, tempestuous Anne that had existed only in my books until now. Realizing this, I wonder if this is why when my daughter’s hair is flying in the wind, her clothes selected just the way she wants, facing out into the open ocean, I find her the most beautiful. When she looks wild and free like my Anne-girl.
Www.cbc.ca
I am so glad that in the age of Netflix and screens and tablets, there is a new Anne Shirley, and to me, a real Anne Shirley, to introduce to a new generation, and to bring readers back to my beloved books for at least another one hundred years.
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My Monday motivation. This is my magnet that reminds me of my sister. @ddduperron #sisters #travel #reading #theworldisabook #magnet #travelquotes #bookclub #bibliophile #booksbooksandmorebooks #book #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #read #reader #wanderlust #travelers #kalidesautelsreads
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One more chapter always seems like such a good idea when I am in bed. Somehow, I have selective amnesia for what Monday mornings are like after “just one more chapter”. #readinginbed #justonemorechapter #selectiveamnesia #mondaymorning #allthecoffeeplease #coffeecoffeecoffee #readersofinstagram #reading #reader #book #books #booknerd #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #booksbooksandmorebooks #bibliophile #bookclub #kalidesautelsreads
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Fear of failure has been my personal impediment. I have kept my opinions to myself, for fear of offense, I have stood back when I should have stepped forward, I have let my dreams collect dust out of fear that I would not be good enough. Fear of failure, fear of the unknown. If you look to this horizon, just past your fear, that’s where the good stuff is.
Helen Czerski’s Storm in a Teacup is a departure from my usual book selections. I tend towards social studies when I choose non-fiction, but this time, I picked a science read. I am so glad I did. Czerski explains complex scientific ideas in a “user friendly” way. Many of the subjects I could vaguely recall from my high school science classes, but she explains them in a way that allows me to connect them to my everyday life. Ice cubes and icebergs, toast and spin axis, light waves and diamonds, why grains of salt sparkle, the history of continental drift – all explained with delight by a woman who clearly loves her science. I recommend this book to readers curious about why bubbles form in their coffee, why lightning does what it does, or even how glass blowing works. Only 96 pages, this book packs a lot of information, without being overwhelming.
“Above All, Be The Heroine of Your Life, Not The Victim.” ~ Nora Ephron #quotes #quotestoliveby #author #authorquotes #noraephronquote #noraephron #book #books #booknerd #bookclub #read #reader #readers #reading #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bibliophile #kalidesautelsreads
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❤️❤️❤️
Kali J Desautels 