Showing posts with label canadian ya. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canadian ya. Show all posts

12 Jan 2023

We Can(ada) Read: 2023 Canadian Book Releases!

12 January 0 Comments

We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors!

2023 Canadian Book Releases!

I am really excited to be more intentional about reading more Canadian Literature next year and having a space to share it on here. Clicking on the book cover will take you to the Goodreads page for the book!

Young Adult




Adult


Which of these are you most excited for?

29 Sept 2022

We Can(ada) Read: WRONG SIDE OF THE COURT by H.N. Khan

29 September 0 Comments

We Can(ada) Read is by Canadians for EVERYONE to learn more about some amazing Canadian authors!

WRONG SIDE OF THE COURT

Author: H.N. Khan
Series: N/A
Source: Gifted from the 2022 Toronto Book Awards Team
Publisher: Penguin Teen Canada
Publication Date: March 15, 2022
Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:

Summary:
Fifteen-year-old Fawad has big dreams about being the world's first Pakistani to be drafted into the NBA. A first-generation Pakistani coming-of-age story for fans of David Yoon and Ben Philippe.

Fifteen-year-old Fawad Chaudhry loves two things: basketball and his mother's potato and ground-beef stuffed parathas. Both are round and both help him forget about things like his father, who died two years ago, his mother's desire to arrange a marriage to his first cousin, Nusrat, back home in Pakistan, and the tiny apartment in Regent Park he shares with his mom and sister. Not to mention his estranged best friend Yousuf, who's coping with the shooting death of his older brother.

But Fawad has plans: like, asking out Ashley, even though she lives on the other, wealthier, side of the tracks, and saving his friend Arif from being beaten into a pulp for being the school flirt, and making the school basketball team and dreaming of being the world's first Pakistani to be drafted into the NBA. All he has to do now is convince his mother to let him try out for the basketball team. And let him date girls from his school. Not to mention somehow get Omar, the neighborhood bully, to leave him alone
Purchase:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book. This in no way impacts my opinion.

This is one of the books on the shortlist of the 2022 Toronto Book Awards!

Content Warning: violence, murder, drugs, alcohol, addiction, theft, stealing, threats

Bullets don't have conscience; they don't distinguish between targets,decides who deserve that. They just tear through flesh and leave wounds.

I thought the writing could have used a little polishing and extra editing, but overall that didn't pull me from the story or detract from the overall awesomeness that was Wrong Side of the Court. Was it a little cheesy? Yes. Was it a little over the top hopeful? Also, yes. Did I love every minute of it? YES!

This is a good coming of age story that highlights the struggles and challenges of growing up in a challenging area as well as facing different sociopolitical issues. I really liked a lot of the scenes with Fawad and Ashley, especially with her parents. I thought there was a bit more that could have been done with that and their relationship, but I liked that it was left open-ended at the end.

The sports writing was fantastic, and I felt every moment of the games. I loved the realness of the characters, their conversations, and how things came to be. I thought the conversations around generational poverty were really interesting, especially in the context of Regent Park.

I highly recommend reading this one!

Are you going to pick this up?

6 Apr 2022

Archive Review: ANY OTHER GIRL by Rebecca Phillips

06 April 2 Comments

Archive Reviews is a new series here on Books and Ladders where I post reviews that I have posted on other blogs, websites, or platforms, but never on here!

Revisit some of my past opinions, learn about new books to you, and see what I was reading in the past!

ANY OTHER GIRL

Author: Rebecca Phillips
Series: N/A
Source: eARC from Publisher
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: January 26, 2016
Overall Rating:
Diversity Rating:


Summary:
After a disastrous, reputation-destroying party at the end of junior year, Kat Henley has a new plan. When it comes to boys—especially other people’s boys:

Don’t touch.
Don’t smile.
Don’t charm.

In the past, drawing attention to herself helped distract people from what really makes Kat different—having two gay parents. But it’s also cost her friendships. Kat can’t afford to lose any more of those, especially not her cousin, Harper. They’re spending one last summer together at the lake, where they run into an intriguing newcomer named Emmett Reese. After years of trying to prove she’s just like everybody else, Kat has found someone who wants her because she’s not. A boy who could be everything she wants too—if Harper hadn’t liked him first…
Purchase:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
 
I fell head over heels with Phillips' writing when I read FAKING PERFECT so when I saw she had another book coming out, I knew I just had to read it. And I'm so glad I did because ANY OTHER GIRL was so good. It was the perfect summer romance novel and I loved every second of my reading of it.

I think the best part of it was that even though it was clearly a romance novel, there were so many other layers to it with Kat worrying she was too much for other people and trying to bring attention to herself rather than those around her. I think it was written so well because I felt Kat taking the weight of the world on her shoulders so that the people she loved didn't have to.

I also really liked that even though Kat wasn't necessarily in the wrong (at least, in my opinion), she still owned up to her mistakes and apologized. And there was such emphasis on forgiveness in this one, whether you are forgiving a friend, a loved one, or just yourself which was beautiful. It was really well done, especially because while Kat didn't see the error of her ways because she had her perspective of things, she tried to look outside of her perspective to see how other people were affected by her choices and actions and see how they would feel. And I don't think that is highlighted enough in fiction (or reality, tbh) but needs to be. Because even if we are worried about ourselves and our actions, we need to realize that other people will have different reactions to what we say or do because of their experiences and opinions.

I think one of the best things that Phillips does is to make contemporary feel so realistic and write characters that everyone can relate too, even if they have their own quirks. And just like with FAKING PERFECT, our heroine wasn't exactly the perfect girl, but she owned her imperfections and they made her who she was. And I loved that. I liked that she wasn't so caught up on what she wasn't the best at but actively worked to be better every day. I highly recommend this one to everyone.

Have you read this one? What was your favourite part?

24 Apr 2019

#EventRecap: Windsor Small Press Book Fair

24 April 3 Comments
On Saturday, April 13, 2019, I ventured out to the

Windsor Small Press Book Fair!

It was hosted by Zed Press and Biblioasis, which are Windsor based publishers. Biblioasis also has a store front location. It was located at the University Community Church above Green Bean Cafe!

I'm going to go over the different books I picked up and local authors and publishers you can check out! Let's get to it!

Also - come out to Biblioasis on April 27th for Independent Bookstore Day and meet ME, plus get discounts on books, meet local authors, and have generally a lot of fun!


The Windsor Small Press Book Fair featured local authors and publishers from the Windsor area. I picked up a LOT of books, which you can see above in the IGTV video!

It was so nice to learn more about some local authors and publishers! I am always such a big advocate for local authors and books so I am so glad I got to learn more about the book scene here in Windsor.

Learn more about some of the authors I adore in Windsor...

Jenn Sadai

Jenn Sadai has combined her love of writing with her passion for empowering women into two inspiring series. The Self-esteem Series is comprised of four non-fiction stories that tackle various issues that impact women’s self-esteem. Her first book, Dark Confessions of an Extraordinary, Ordinary Woman delves into the dark consequences of domestic violence, drug use, and depression.
Jenn Sadai is a proud Canadian, born in Windsor, Ontario, where she resides with her heroic husband and two lovable labs. Jenn can always be reached through the various social media links on her website or at jennsadai19@gmail.com.

Connect with the Author:

You can pick up Jenn's books on Amazon or the Chapters in Tecumseh!

Chelsea Girard

Chelsea can’t remember the last time she wasn’t reading a book. ​She is a blogger and bookstagrammer with an eye for creativity.
Chelsea tends to draw to novels that draw away from love stories and more towards suspense and personal experiences shared from one person to the next. She love books that make you feel for the character and give you a sense of fufillment when you claim their happiness as you’re own. That's why her poetry collections and novels resonate so well with readers.

Connect with the Author:

You can pick up Chelsea's poetry on Amazon!


Ben Van Dongen & Christian Laforet

Ben Van Dongen grew up in Windsor Ontario. He likes to think that if he tried harder he could have been an Astronaut, but he is happier writing science fiction anyway. He co-authored the books No Light Tomorrow and All These Crooked streets, and is one half of the founding team of Adventure Worlds Press. His first solo book, The Thinking Machine, a cyberpunk novella, came out last year and the unconnected sequel, The Neon Heart, is now available.

Connect with Ben:

Christian Laforet lives in LaSalle, Ontario with his wife, Lady, and his two girls, Lelaina Blue and Delilah Sunshine. He is co-founder and frequent contributor to the short fiction site, Adventure Worlds (adventureworldsblog.com).The rapidly growing website is shared among a group of writers who regularly post stories across all genres. Christian is also involved in several other projects and is hard at work on his first novel.

Connect with Christian:

You can pick up Ben and Christian's books on Amazon or in store at Biblioasis!

Elizabeth J.M. Walker

Elizabeth J. M. Walker has always loved books and writing. She is the author of the Young Adult books She Dreamed of Dragons, This Night Sucks, Slip Jig Summer, and The Boy Who Owned the Forest.
Connect with the Author:

You can find Elizabeth's books on Amazon or in store in Juniper Books in Windsor!

Who are some of your local authors?
Are you going to check out any of these?