Sensitive Creatures by Mandy Ord (2011)

I don’t often read comics — I feel like I just read the words and skip the art, which feels like it’s a waste of my time/effort and disrespectful to the artist or something? — but this one was on display at the lib so I picked it up. And it’s just so cute! Our main character/narrator is this odd little one-eyed character, but she’s so goddamn relatable.

The book is divided up into little short stories, essentially. And they’re all little everyday things — trying to exchange tickets for the metro, going to visit your sister and her kiddies, having a weird dream where you’re a giant, walking the dogs, etc.

It felt like I was reading someone’s diary, if they were the sort of person who doodles in their notebook — although the art was much better than that.

Sam Saboura’s Real Style: Style Secrets for Real Women with Real Bodies by Sam Saboura; illustrations by Bunky Hurter (2005)

Saboura is the guy from the old Extreme Makeover reality show, where they had plastic surgeons and cosmetic dentists and all these people make over so-called ‘ugly’ people. This book isn’t really about that; the focus here is really just on clothes and dressing to suit your body type. (I am a ‘half-pint’, apparently.)

It’s just funny — this book isn’t even quite a decade old, but some of the information is so out of date… No mention at all of skinny jeans! Nothing about Spanx. Patterned tights are super uncool. There’s a backlash against pashminas! Just get used to having to haul up your strapless dress and wiggle back into it… Strange.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth (2012)

I actually read this book a few weeks ago, and I’m partway through reading it again (it hasn’t even gone back to the library between reads). I’m re-reading for two main reasons:

1. It’s really good (duh), and
2. I still have so many questions!

Not that reading this novel a second time has answered any of those, because it’s not like I skipped a few chapters the first time. The author even says in this interview with Malinda Lo (who’s awesome) that many readers have questions about what happened at the end and have demanded a sequel with answers.

I’ve got a pretty big list of questions:

• Where do Cameron/Jane/Adam go afterwards?
• Does Cam die of hypothermia?
• Does Ruth die?
• What does Ruth think about what they did?
• How long until Ruth even finds out about it?
• What does Lauryn Hill have to do with this book? (Not much, I don’t think… this novel was set before the album even came out. Ha! Came out! Ha! Good music; listen to it anyway!)
• Who helps them? Margot? Lindsay? Mona? Bueller?
• Why didn’t Lindsay or Jamie or someone else put up a fight beforehand?
• How does Coley feel about herself and all the trouble she caused?
• Is Coley’s brother’s name really Tyler Taylor? (If so, I think his fictional parents are dumb.)
• What’s Irene up to? Is she still dating Harrison, the polo player?
• Is Rick really mad? Or just disappointed? Or maybe he’s had a change of heart and thinks it was a good idea?
• Does Lydia just continue being a huge bitch? (I assume the answer is yes.)
• What happens to the dollhouse?
• Do they all live happily ever after?

So yeah, if there’s anything that will answer these questions, I’d definitely read it. And I’d read anything else of Danforth’s that I came across, too (but this is a debut novel, so nothing else at my library as of yet). I really like her style, both in terms of writing, and in terms of what I found on her website, which is pretty cool… it’s so cool I just spent 20 minutes looking at all the stuff on it.

This is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz (2012)

Photo: J Muckle/Studio D

I read another Junot Diaz book a while ago that I reviewed for this blog. It got really good reviews. I thought it was okay. This one got good reviews too, and I wish I hadn’t put off reading it as long as I did. It’s a collection of short stories that feature one of the peripheral characters from Oscar Wao. Some of the stories are very short. Others you wish were a book all on their own.

I read the last story in this book probably three times in a row — it’s one of those things that you read where you really have to

take it in

think it

feel it

let it hurt you.

It was like being punched in the chest, but I wanted it to happen over and over. I think I needed it to happen over and over. Maybe that only makes sense if you read it. Maybe you need to read it.

The Specialty Shop: How to Create Your Own Unique and Profitable Retail Business by Dorothy Finell (2007)

I picked this book up from the library, since I’ve been labouring under the impression that I will eventually learn to sew using a sewing machine and become rich and famous selling pajamas. Right now I’m at the point where I can sew enough to repair or make minor changes to things, but only when sewing by hand. The machine scares me for some reason.

Anyway, this book profiles a bunch of specialty shops that the author likes and that, in her estimation, are doing well for themselves. I don’t know, I thought her parameters were kind of odd. She gave BIG points for how pretty the actual shop was, and seemed pretty down on advertising… and it’s not like the book was written pre-internet. She suggested making newsletters (like actual physical paper newsletters) for customers using CLIP ART, fercrissakes. So excuse me if I don’t put a lot of stock photography in your ideas.

Also she was inconsistent when talking about the size of the shops — you can use square feet OR square metres, but not both. That bothered me too.

Maybe I’ll get some books about Etsy instead, on the off-chance I ever get my shit together and sew something someone might want to buy.