A Book From An Author You Love That You Haven't Read Yet | 2015 Reading Challenge

Hi everyone! I keep forgetting to update you all on this one, so you can expect a few posts for this challenge in the next week or so. For today's is a book from an author you love that you haven't read yet. This is one that I haven't read yet, simply because it was only released about two weeks ago! I love this author so much and if you haven't already guessed who it is, it is Kazuo Ishiguro, who I had the pleasure of meeting recently! (You can read the event recap here!)

A Book From An Author You Love That You Haven't Read Yet goes to:

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

Review: HERE!

Have you finished any challenges for the #2015ReadingChallenge yet? Let me know in the comments below!  

Kazuo Ishiguro Reception

Bookseller and Blogger Reception at the Consort Bar at the King Edward Hotel

Happy Sunday everyone! Today was an incredibly special day for me. For those of you that are new to the blog, I am a graduate student with a big interest in Japanese literature. One of my favorite authors EVER is Kazuo Ishiguro, author of Never Let Me Go and my personal favorite, The Remains of the Day. I was incredibly lucky today because the lovely ladies over at Random House Canada - invited me to attend a blogger and bookseller reception for Kazuo Ishiguro. I think I actually cried a little when I got the email from over-the-moon excitement. 

The event was held at the lovely King Edward Hotel (I've stayed there before and if you have a chance, GO! It is an exquisite hotel). I was incredibly nervous to begin with because I'm quite starstruck by Ishiguro and I was worried about how I might ramble on and on. Ishiguro has been a huge inspiration in my work and he continues to be daily. I am absolutely always in awe of every single one of his books when I close them and I feel as if I am entering a new world each time I pick up one of his books. I was there with a few other book bloggers (Lynne at Words of Mystery, Karen at One More Page, Shilpa at Sukasa Reads and Lauren at Bookish Things) and while we were waiting to speak to Ishiguro, we were introduced to his lovely wife, Lorna. Lorna was an absolute sweetheart and took the time to speak to all of us individually and she even had some stories to share about visiting Toronto a few years back for the release of Never Let Me Go and her interactions with the actresses and actors from that film! She also asked us what we thought of some recent reads which was awesome.

When it finally came time to meet Ishiguro, all of us bloggers were able to say a few bits in our group which was nice. I could not stop grinning and internally screaming as I was standing next to him! Finally came time to sign the books, and although the event coordinators very kindly gifted us some copies of his new book and the latest editions of The Remains of the Day, I ended up bringing my entire Ishiguro collection. I didn't want to hold up the line, so I only got the main ones signed. While he was signing, I was able to sing my praises for his latest book, The Buried Giant and I think I might have said it was such an honour to meet him two or three times (woops.. but hey, it really was!) - and we ended up talking about the latest Penguin Drop Caps collection.

He was incredibly charming and just so nice to speak to! It was an absolute dream to meet him today. I am now very much looking forward to his talk at the Toronto Public Library Event on Tuesday to hear him speak more in depth about The Buried Giant. All in all, I can't think of any other way to describe this Sunday spent meeting one of my favorite authors EVER,  as simply PERFECT. It was great catching up with my fellow book bloggers and simply chatting with the best bookish people around. 

If you haven't already, be sure to check out his latest book The Buried Giant - you can read my full review for it here! Many thanks to the ladies at Random House for a lovely afternoon and be sure to watch this space for my recap of the Toronto Public Library event this Tuesday. The event is currently sold out, but they will have rush tickets and you can find all the details over here! :D 

Books That Made You Think | Top 5 Wednesday

Hi everyone. I hope that you are all doing well. Today's topic is Top 5 Books that Made You Think! I was quite intrigued by this topic, so it was a little hard for me to decide which ones to pick, but let's get started! :D

1. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

How could I not pick this one? I remember reading this for the first time in third year and I was incredibly moved by it. It got me thinking about our internal life as opposed to our external life and that is something that has kind of stuck with me ever since. Woolf is an incredibly important figure in my research and she continues to inspire me daily. 

2. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

One of the first books I've ever read by Murakami and it remains one of my favorites until this day. I just love the boundaries that Murakami pushes in our everyday lives and how it encourages the reader to think outside the box. As I'm typing this, I am incredibly tempted to reread it! 

3. The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells

I read this book not too long ago and it has seriously stuck with me. This book is so eerie, uncomfortable, uncanny.. you name it. The idea of it just really intrigues me and bothers me all at the same time. I loved it and it really pushed me to think about how deformations and anomalies are treated in society. 

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

This one had to be included on the list! It is one of my earlier reads and it has stuck with me ever since. It definitely encouraged my thinking about relationships: love and family in a different way.

5. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Last but not least, my favorite book of all time. I read this every year and it still intrigues me. It has really encouraged me to think a lot about aesthetics and the idea of self. It has always influenced my work and it continues to do so. I love this book so much and it truly is the best! 

Well that is it from me today. I hope that you enjoyed this post. If you wrote one for the top 5 books that made you think, please link to yours below in the comments because I would love to check it out! :D 

Review: The Brain's Way of Healing - Remarkable Discoveries And Recoveries From The Frontiers Of Neuroplasticity by Norman Doidge

The Brain's Way of Healing - Remarkable Discoveries And Recoveries From The Frontiers Of Neuroplasticity by Norman Doidge, M.D. 

Publishing Date: January 27, 2015
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Pages: 432 pages
Health and Well-Being

The Premise: Norman Doidge is the author of the famous New York Times Best Seller Book The Brain That Changes Itself and this new book, tackles the notions that certain damage done to the brain through disease or injury causes certain mental abilities to be lost and instead puts forth natural and noninvasive procedures that demonstrate that the brain can heal through other various avenues such as forms of energy (light, sound, vibration, movement). Doidge draws on cases specifically from real life examples to give examples of specific times that natural healing occurred within the brain. Some chapters of the text include how Neuroplastic healing works in general, brain healing with light, how sound can help the brain and more.

My overall thoughts and review: For my own research as a graduate student, I've become increasingly interested in science regarding the brain in general. My research is mainly in the unconscious and examining brains, but this is a branch I've always wanted to explore further. The difficulty of branching out into a field you aren't familiar with is where to start and most of all, finding a book that is accessible in a language that a common reader can understand. I've seen this book pop up on the chapters website and every time I visited the book store, I saw it on display. I was given the opportunity to review this and I jumped at it because of all the hype surrounding it. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the writing was accessible and the subject matter was not difficult for me to understand. I read a bit of Oliver Sacks in my undergraduate years and Doidge's writing reminds me of his (he even mentions Oliver Sacks in the book, which I was pleasantly surprised about). I found that the way the text was organized with the cases and the "treatment" was split up nicely and from there it branched off into other chapters that were closely related.

Because I work with visual art and visualization can affect our unconscious, the chapter about how visualization decreases brain pain was particularly interesting to me. How visual imagery actually went on to help. Doidge address skeptic's concerns and how could it be seen as a placebo effect but what I really like about Doidge is that he doesn't just ignore it - he acknowledges and shows cases of studies of success. He is not guaranteeing success for everyone that attempts these natural and noninvasive procedures, but he is showing cases of success and hopefully that will encourage individuals to think differently when it comes to brain healing.

This was my first time reading a book like this and it has definitely encouraged me to pick up Doidge's other book to read more. Doidge is an incredibly clear writer when it comes to speaking about neuroplasticity and I think that it is a good introductory text for those interested in this field. Even if you aren't interested in this field, I didn't know I was until the end of the book, so it may work out that way for you as well. If you've ever been a little curious about the brain's way of healing, I definitely recommend you check this book out!

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮✮ (5/5 stars) 

Now available for purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Penguin Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own. 

Review: The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith

The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith

Publishing Date: March 10, 2015
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Pages: 336
Young Adult Contemporary

The Premise: This story follows a young boy named Ariel, who is the sole survivor of a small village. He moves to America and joins the Burgess, his new adoptive family which includes his new brother Max. The story follows Ariel and Max as the spend the summer at a camp. Intertwined in the story is the story of a schizophrenic bomber, diaries of a failed Arctic expedition, and well the title character, Alex, the crow.

My overall thoughts and review: So when I heard that Andrew Smith was coming out with a new book, I was seriously over the moon excited. I loved Winger and I just find his books, in general, captivate me completely. They tackle real life in such a way that is raw and well, weird. This story was no different. It took me a few chapters to get used to the pacing and the shifting of narratives, but after that it really picked up. The scenes that follow the boys at camp are told from Ariel's perspective and he tells it in a way as if he is telling the story to Max - I really enjoyed it. Smith is known for getting to really difficult subject matter in a way that kind of surprises you and you don't expect it. He kind of braces you with funny and weird scenes  (the boys talking about different ways to say masturbation for example) and then immediately shifts to scenes that really made me uncomfortable. I am not saying that is a bad thing because this is something that needs to happen more often in literature - he is not afraid to show the reader uncomfortable subject matter and that only made me really feel for Ariel and his experiences as the sole survivor of his village even more. Smith is incredibly brave in tackling such difficult subject matter but he does it in a way that really resonates with the reader in the long run. All in all, I really enjoyed this read and by the end of it, I was quite fond of Ariel, Max and Cobie. The stories of the crow, Alex were quite interesting to add into it as well. If you are a fan of Andrew Smith, this is definitely something you should check out because as always, he does not disappoint.

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮ (4/5 stars) 

Now available for purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Penguin Canada (Penguin Young Readers Group is an imprint of Penguin Group) for consideration/review. All opinions are my own. 

Review: Remember by Eileen Cook

Remember by Eileen Cook

Publishing Date: February 24, 2015
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 320 pages
Young Adult Contemporary Fiction

The Premise: The story follows Harper who is the daughter of the man who runs the company Neurotech. Neurotech is known primarily for their medicine Memtex, which is designed to wipe away sad memories, or to soften them so the person taking the medication won't feel as sad with those memories. Harper is used to the attention being the daughter of the man who runs this company and with her, she has her bestfriend Win and her boyfriend Josh. Everything seems to be going just perfectly in her life until one day, Harper suffers a loss she can't quite recover from. She decides that in order to cope with her loss, she wishes to go ahead and get the Memtex treatment despite her father forbidding her. The treatment does work, but soon after she experiences strange symptoms and illusions and she begins questioning her memory.

My overall thoughts and review: I am currently incredibly fascinated by the unconscious in my own research, so any book that tackles the notion of memories, dreams, the unconscious really intrigue me. When I first began this book, I really thought of one of my favorite films: The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (if you haven't seen it - what are you waiting for?) - a medication to wipe away sad memories sounds just like that film. Harper is a great protagonist to read from because she is strong-willed, intelligent and curious. I really enjoyed the dynamic between her and her bestfriend, Win. The overall pacing of the story was good until the last few chapters which I felt were a bit rushed and I wish everything didn't wrap up so quickly. All in all, I really enjoyed it. It was an interesting spin on YA contemporary fiction in general, because I felt it had a very dystopic feel to it and also a bit of sci-fi, with the medicine component. The love story or well, triangle in this case, was also interesting too. I definitely would recommend checking out this book if you are a fan of Lauren Oliver's Delirium series because I can definitely see some connections between this book and that series. This is my first read from Eileen Cook and I look forward to picking up some of her other works in the near future.

You can check out Eileen Cook's website here!

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮✮ (4/5 stars) 

Now available for purchase at:
Chapters/Indigo

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Simon and Schuster Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own. 

Books You'd Save in a Fire | Top 5 Wednesday

Hi everyone! I know last month I wasn't really on track with the TOP 5 WEDNESDAY series, but I really want to get back into the swing of things. So starting off the month of March in the first week, we have the topic of the TOP 5 books I'd save in a fire! Here we go!

1. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

It is my favorite book, so how could I not save it? I have a lot of copies because I collect different editions of the book, so the hard part will be selecting which one to take with me. 

2. Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

I know that it wouldn't be possible to save all the books from the HP series, so I will save my favorite one of the series. The one that really inspired the name of my blog and that features me favorite character! 

3. Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami

It is so hard to choose a favorite amongst Murakami's wonderful selection, but this would be the one to save in a fire. This story is just beautiful. I love it so much!

4. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

It was also hard to choose a favorite amongst the Ishiguro selection but this was the first book by him that I read and the book that really resonated with me. I adore this book! 

5. To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

I couldn't forget one of my favorite authors ever. Again, it was so hard choosing but I am going to go with this one. This is the one that inspired me to write about her for my MA and this is the book that I can read over and over again and just get something new every time out of it. 

Well that is my selection for this week's topic. Let me know in the comments or link me to your post/video of your Top 5 picks for books you'd save in a fire!