Kali J Desautels

Sitting down to enjoy the snow and a new book – it combines two of my favourite topics: food and Canadian cultural history; it’s got to be good! #speakingincodtongues #lenorenewman #canada #culinary #canadiancuisine #culture #history #tbr #readinglist #readinglife #book #newbook #books #bookclub #bookstagram #bookclubofinstagram #read #reading #bibliophile #cooking #kalidesautelsreads 

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JD Salinger’s The Catcher In The Rye has been a controversial novel since its original publication in 1951. Holden Caulfield is the personification of loneliness and angst, now associated primarily with teens. He feels misunderstood and surrounded by “phonies”. He seeks connections with people, but can never quite feel it. He dances with women, talks to his roommate and feels alone. He wears a red hunting cap, which is symbolic of his strangeness – he is unique, he is alone, he feels like everyone else is weird, and he will not fit in. The only person he feels any affinity for in his depression is his little sister, Phoebe. He cheers himself with a mishearing of Comin’ Through The Rye by Robbie Burns, believing that the Catcher in the Rye is the keeper of childhood innocence, and wanting to be the Catcher. While Salinger was writing in the 1950s, Holden is still just as apt today, as social media keeps people from truly connecting with one another. Inexplicably a long time member of the Banned Books club, I would suggest that everyone read this 214 page literary classic. 

#thecatcherintherye #jdsalinger #holdencaulfield #1951 #loneliness #depression #angst #redhuntinghat #literary #literature #classicliterature #phoney #phonies #bookstagramfeature #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #read #reading #readinglife #readinglist #bibliophile #book #bookclub #bookclubs #bannedbooks #kalidesautelsreads

Sick day – how to decide what to read??? What are you reading today?

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It Ended Badly is a humorous non-fiction book of famously contentious, sometimes terrifying, and always curious breakups ranging from Nero, to Oscar Wilde, to Norman Mailer, and Burton and Taylor. Written in a sarcastic wit, the book has the feel of talking to your best girlfriend; witty, smart and scrappy. Wright’s intended reader is clearly the heartbroken ex party, for whom ice cream, wine and a good book are comforts. That said, anyone with a morbid fascination with the inner workings of other people’s relationships will enjoy the tales of murder, lunacy and depravity. The reader will feel that by not making a life size sex doll covered in polar bear fur to recreate their lost love, they are coming out on top, regardless of any regrettable drunk late night text messages. The stories are shocking and Wright delivers them in such a way that it is difficult not to feel incredulous- as when a friend of Norman Mailer compared his working the Times mailroom to be on par with with rough time Mailer had had after he stabbed his wife twice at a party and told others to “just let her die”. Grotesque, sad, gobsmacking and ludicrous these breakups are certainly entertaining. 240 pages

#itendedbadly #itendedbadlythebook #13worstbreakupsinhistory #jenniferwright @jenashleywright #nonfiction #anthology #bookstagramfeature #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #bibliophile #books #2015 #book #bookclub #bookclubofinstagram #read #reading #readinglife #readinglist #kalidesautelsreads 

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The Time Traveler’s Wife is Audrey Niffenegger’s acclaimed debut novel. It has the unusual feature of falling into two genres – science fiction and romance. The story of a woman who meets her husband throughout her life time and loves him endlessly, though his genetic condition of time travel causes him to jump in and out of her life. She worries for him, loves him, finds him, waits for him. In that way, it seems to be a discourse on the distance that one can feel in a relationship, however Niffenegger replaces emotional distance with distance through Time and Space. The style of alternating points of view between the two main characters – Henry, the Time Traveler’s and Clare, the artist who loves him – allows the reader to solve a sort of puzzle and learns what each are doing while the other is searching. It gives the reader an omniscience to which neither character is privy. A beautiful, beautiful book, with a certain amount of literary longevity, I highly recommend it. Even if you have seen Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana playing the characters on film, nothing can compete with the original 546 pages.

#thetimetravelerswife #audreyniffenegger #thetimetravelerswifebook #sciencefiction #scifi #romance #literature #time #space #timetravel #readinglist #reading #read #book #books #bookclub #bookclubs #bookclubofinstagram #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramfeature #kalidesautelsreads 

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Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls is a collection of David Sedaris’ rapier sharp, and darkly funny essays. In typical Sedaris style, he draws heavily on his life with his husband Hugh, and his nuclear family, including 4 sisters, 1 brother, 2 parents and 1 Greek Yaya, growing up. His essays are not funny simply in the fact that they are funny anecdotes, but that in the retelling of them, they bring to bare a certain social more or convention, and allows the reader to analyze it, and consider it, through Sedaris’ microscope. Sedaris’ younger sister, comedian Amy Sedaris, is often included in his stories due to what appears to be a very close friendship between siblings. Sedaris asks suing the course of one essay – who are we as a person, without our families? The 288 pages pass quickly, and will leave the reader quickly looking for further Sedaris writings immediately following the closure of the book. 

#letslookatdiabeteswithowls #davidsedaris #essay #essays #anthology #funny #humor #humour #humourous #family #marriage #siblings #travel #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #book #books #bookclub #bookclubofinstagram #bibliophile #readinglife #read #reading #readinglist #kalidesautelsreads 

MacLeod’s Vancouver – if you replace the cantankerous, filthy Bernard Black, with a knowledgeable gentleman, as owner/operator, MacLeod’s on the corner of Richards St and Pender St in Vancouver, could be a stand in for Black Books. With books stacked floor to ceiling, literally, MacLeod’s is a book lover a paradise. 

#macleods #vancouver #beautifulbc #richards #pender #shelfie #bookenvy #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #books #bookstagramfeature #readinglist #tbr #reading #readinglife #bibliophile #booktourism #kalidesautelsreads

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Judy Blume is famous for her children’s book, which makes sense, as she has only written 4 adult books, and it had been two decades since her bestseller Summer Sisters. In the Unlikely Event is Blume’s historical novel about 3 planes crashes within 3 months in Elizabeth, NJ in the 1950s. Blume lived through this experience, and more than 60 years later, wrote about them, through the eyes of a sweeping cast of characters. The characters are well written, and for the most part interesting, however attempting to cover how these sundry characters handle the triple tragedies is a large feat, and falls a bit short. Writing this story, following one family, and one crash would have been an intense story, but I feel that Blume stretched thin at occasion. Certain characters, such as Miri and her mother Rusty Ammerman, are well developed and feel real; others remain one dimensional. Each section is written as the semi-omniscient voice of an individual character, switching back and forth. Some of the highlights of the book include the point of view of an individual on each of the doomed flights. Blume excels at recreating the world of the 1950s, and as always, the thoughts of a teenage girl. At 397 pages, I would recommend this book to readers that have the time to read and finish the book in short order, as a holiday read. However, it would be easy to lose track if one were to step away from the book for any length of time, and would feel daunting to revisit. 

#InTheUnlikelyEvent #judyblume #2015 #novel #fiction #historicalfiction #airplanes #disaster #mentalhealth #ptsd #elizabeth #elizabethnj #newjersey #crash #planecrashcity #pov #pointofview #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #books #book #bookclubs #bookclub #bookclubofinstagram #bibliophile #readinglist #readinglife #read #reading #kalidesautelsreads 

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 HRC (Hillary Rodham Clinton) is Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen’s extensive research of Clinton’s rise to power Secretary of State and ultimately to the beginning of her second run at the presidency. Discussing her personal strengths, HRC is clearly aimed at Clinton’s fans. While there is more balanced reporting with regard to her personality, she is often compared to Obama, her rival for the candidacy in the 2008 Democratic primaries, in such a way that casts Obama into a negative light. The authors clearly did their research and spoke to innumerable unnamed sources, about private communiques, and personal conversations. Reading this, following the loss of her 2016 loss to the Republican nominee, it is especially hard to read the final chapters, as even at the time of writing, the authors and those around her felt she was the forerunner to become POTUS. There is information about the Benghazi incident and investigation, the attacks by the far-right, her approval ratings over the last 10 years. For those curious about the former Secretary of State, I recommend this book. For those who are not Democrats, or fans of Clinton, 448 pages is quite the feat to wade through. HRC is also a wonderful book for women looking to learn more about the woman who shattered many glass ceilings in the last 20 years. #hrc #statesecretsandtherebirthofhillaryclinton #amieparnes #jonanathanallen #hillaryclinton #history #historymaker #benghazi #secretaryofstate #feminism #glassceiling #biography #politicalhistory #bibliophile #readinglife #reading #bookstagram #book #books #bookclub #bookstagrammer #bookclubofinstagram #readinglist #kalidesautelsreads

“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body” – Joseph Addison & Richard Steele
It is important to exercise every part of our bodies, including our minds. Ignorance may be bliss, but it is certainly not healthy. 

#bookbag #readinglife #bibliophile #reading #readingistothemindwhatexerciseistothebody #josephaddison #richardsteele #kalidesautelsreads