Friday Reads: July 14, 2017

Whether you’re on your way to the cottage, or just hanging out by the pool this weekend, why not bring 1 or 3 books with you to read! Our office is busy prepping for the fall season but they’ve still go some great #FridayReads for you today!

Tessa, Marketing & Publicity Intern: Maria Qamar’s Trust no Aunty is a hilarious survival guide for any South Asian girl out there trying to survive overbearing aunties, and keeping your white boyfriend Brad a secret. From how to answer your aunties’ nagging remarks, to finding the perfect date spot, or learning some haldi mask recipes, this book truly has it all! Maria Qamar’s beautiful art, and playful sense of humor had me laughing the entire time, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to have a good laugh while stealing one or two pieces of advice on how to dodge a chapel. 

Alexandra, Marketing Assistant: I’m currently reading Maja Lunde’s The History of Bees. Originally published in Norway, the book has finally come to English readers in Canada and the USA. It’s the most beautiful story that follows three storylines––one in the past, one in the present, and one set in a bleak future. The stories weave together to form a resounding story on the bonds of family. And, of course, on the importance of bees in maintaining the world that we love so much. This is such a powerful read, and I can’t recommend it enough! (Plus, you know… that cover! <3).

Holley, Publicity Assistant: I just finished The Mothers by Britt Bennett and it was so outstanding as an audio book that I am eager to read it as a physical book. This book is so beautiful and compelling I cannot stop recommending it everyone I know.

Sarah, Assistant Editor: I’m currently obsessed with Fredrik Backman’s latest novel Beartown. It’s a moving book about a small, struggling hockey town reeling from a tragedy that shatters friendships and brings everyone’s loyalties into question. Did I mention it has a beautifully drawn cast of characters? I highly recommend this one. It has so much heart.

Friday Reads: July 7, 2017

Check out what our team is reading this week to gear up for the summer! Any one of these books would make a perfect beach, cottage, or pool side read. 

Andrea, Digital Associate:  I just finished Dawn Study by Maria V. Snyder, it’s the final book in her Study series and a sad goodbye to her characters Yelena and Valek. I always love Snyder’s books for her remarkable world building and non-stop action—fights, kidnappings, assassination attempts, rogue magicians—it’s got it all. I can never resist starting series again after I finish her latest book. It’s hard to let go of the characters. My fingers are crossed for a Janco and Ari spin-off series. Readers can always use more Janco. ;)

Sarah-Anne, Marketing Intern: Yesterday I finished I Found You. It is the first book I've read by Lisa Jewell, and I'm now obsessed with her! This book has everything. It’s at once funny, tragic, and heartwarming – but also definitely a thriller.  Jewell will have you believing you’ve got it figured out until she switches directions completely. And when all the pieces finally start coming together, it’s so satisfying. Easy to devour in one sitting, I Found You is as perfect for the beach as it is for a cozy night in!

Samantha, Sales Operations Associate: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is a strange and wonderful debut novel.  Eleanor is a completely unlikeable loner at the beginning, but I cared more and more about her as the story went along, and less and less about the scandalous secret past that’s alluded to throughout.  Eleanor’s struggles to integrate with new friends and coworkers are both a profound meditation on loneliness, and also an underdog story of the very best kind.  Definitely a book that will stick with me.

Happy Pride Parade Day, Toronto!

35 Must-Read Fantasy Books!

@bnteen has released the 35 most anticipated fantasy novels they’re most looking forward to reading in the second half of 2017, and we couldn’t be more excited either. There are some WONDERFUL fantasy novels ripe for the reading coming out soon. 

Check out some of our favourites below!

The Last Magician

From Unhooked author Lisa Maxwell comes a captivating new world filled with magic and deception, about a girl who must travel back in time to find a mysterious book that could save her future. Stop the Magician. Steal the book. Save the future.

An Enchantment of Ravens

A skilled painter must stand up to the ancient power of the faerie courts—even as she falls in love with a faerie prince—in this gorgeous debut novel.

Shimmer & Burn

To save her sister’s life, Faris must smuggle magic into a plague-ridden neighboring kingdom in this exciting and dangerous start to a brand-new fantasy duology.

When someone says, “I bet you can’t finish that book in one day.”

Friday Reads: June 23, 2017

This weeks #fridayreads is all about pride, and celebrating all things LGBTQ. Check out what our office is reading to show their pride colours, and maybe you’ll find your next diverse read. 

Andrea, Digital Associate: This week’s read is actually a re-read. I first read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo while it was still in manuscript form, but I love this book so much that I wanted to read it again once it was properly published (who can resist a cover with gold foil embossing?). I have read very few books where a character feels as real and tangible as Evelyn Hugo (you’ll find yourself wanting to google her name). She’s fierce, ambitious, sexy and independent; I especially love the fact that she refuses to be labeled based on her sexual preferences and doesn’t let her numerous husbands define her. Seven Husbands is a glamorous and heart-wrenching read. I highly recommend it!   

Alexandra, Marketing Assistant: This week I’ve been kicking back with Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, a YA coming-of-age novel that follows Simon Spier, a 16-year-old gay teenager. Still firmly in the closet, Simon is trying to navigate his way through the ups and downs of high school. Simon vs. delivers on so many levels: a diverse cast of characters, a love story that makes the teenage heart inside me go pitter-patter, and a protagonist that is all too relatable–and that justifies my eternal love of Oreos. 

Jordyn, Sales Representative: My favourite romance writers have come together once more to write Autoboyography, a teen novel coming out in September 2017. Tanner Scott has just moved to Utah with his family, in addition to being back in the closet at his new school, he’s also falling for Sebastian who is helping him write a book for a class. This book touches on so many timely topics including bisexuality, religion, morality, and the struggles of being an LGBTQ teen in a conservative school. Christina Lauren always manages to cover so many topics without sounding preachy, and this teen romance will definitely pull at your heart strings.

Us trying to balance our TBR piles...

YA Novels that should be TV shows ASAP!

@entertainmentweekly thinks these 5 #YA books should be TV shows ASAP including our very own S.K. Ali’s #SaintsandMisfits, that released this week! 

If you’re not too sure why there’s been SO much buzz about Saints and Misfits, check out the synopsis, and read an excerpt, HERE.

Friday Reads: June 16, 2017

This Friday Reads is dedicated to saying good-bye to our Marketing Manager, Loretta. She is leaving Simon & Schuster Canada and moving onto bigger things, and we couldn’t be happier for her. So check out what she’s been reading her last week at S&S Canada, it might just be your next favourite book!

Andrea, Digital Marketing Associate: I’m nearly done The Visitors by Catherine Burns. It’s a haunting and unsettling debut novel about a timid spinster who lives with her domineering brother and “the visitors” who live in the cellar. I won’t say more except that it’ll leave you looking at your neighbours with new eyes and wondering if they’re as “normal” as they seem…

Siobhan, Assistant to the President & Editorial Director: I just finished reading the ARC of Until It Fades by K.A. Tucker, which was a break from what I have been reading lately. It was such a sweet and satisfying romance, with a strong female protagonist who doesn't need a man, but finds love nonetheless. Did I mention the love interest is a chiseled yet sentimental hockey player? I'm here for it!

Jacquelynne, Marketing Assistant: I just finished reading I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo, and oh my gosh it was ADORABLE. I loved Desi’s over-achieving personality (reminded me a bit of myself when I was a teenager) and her two best friends who were total enablers in her crazy plan to get a boyfriend. I also learnt about K-Drama’s, and might dive into one or two this weekend. The way Maurene Goo wrote about teenagers, and the high school experience was very authentic and reminiscent of Jenny Han. The situations were SO awkwardly adorable that I caught myself cringing a few times, but couldn’t stop myself from laughing out loud on the subway. If you’re into cute, light, contemporary YA than this is the book for you. 

Loretta, Marketing Manager: Sing, Unburied, Sing is incredible. I haven’t encountered writing this powerful since reading All the Light We Cannot See. The story of Jojo and his family is in turns sorrowful, shocking, and stunningly beautiful.   

Jojo’s childhood is wrought with hardship. His daily challenges of poverty and abuse are overlain with the influence of the spiritual world; the ghosts in this place have stories to tell. They remind us of the circuitous nature of the past and the connectivity of life. They remind us of the importance of telling and listening to stories. This novel from Jesmyn Ward feels like a gift. It is a rare and beautiful thing.

Saints and Misfits Playlist

To celebrate the publication of the first Young Adult novel under our diversity imprint, Salaam Reads, author S.K. Ali has provided us with a little playlist to listen to while you read, Saints and Misfits, out today! 

SYNOPSIS:

PLAYLIST:

Walking Contridiction by Greenday

La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf

Raindrops by Regina Spektor

Quiet by MILCK

During Pride Month support #LGBTQ authors and read one of these 15 #YA books celebrating pride. Below are two of our own authors who have written wonderfully diverse books. 

TASH HEARTS TOLSTOY by Kathryn Ormsbee

AT THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE by Shaun David Hutchinson

Get ready for one of the MUST READ books of 2018, #AmericanPanda by Gloria Chao! @bustle revealed the cover this past week, and it is SO adorable, and diverse. We can’t wait for you all the read it! 

Friday Reads: June 9, 2017

Enjoying the beautiful weather, bookworms? We sure are! Check out what people in the office are reading this week (hopefully, outside)!

Andrea, Digital Marketing Associate: I just finished The Assassin’s Curse by Kevin Sands, it’s the third book in The Blackthorn Key series. Honestly, I feel bad sharing this Friday Reads with you, because it’s SOOOOOO good but it won’t be coming out until September. Sands gets better with each book; the puzzles continue to stump me, the characters grow with each book, and the action always gets my pulse racing. *spoiler alert* My favourite scene is when Christopher tries to buy time by getting the bad guy to monologue, and they are having NONE OF IT. This scene brings me particular joy because The Incredibles is one of my favourite movies, and you’ll know monologuing is a running joke in it. To summarize, mark your calendars and pick up The Assassin’s Curse as soon as it comes out.

Siobhan, Assistant to the President & Editorial Director: I’ve been reading Notes from a Feminist Killjoy by Erin Wunker, and it makes my heart so happy and so angry at the same time. It’s the feminist manifesto I have been searching for, and she so poignantly captures the multitudes of being a woman, a Canadian, a mother, a daughter, a student, a teacher, an activist, a millennial, etc.! I just want to put it in the hands of everyone I know.   

Rebecca, Marketing Assistant: Lately, I’ve been struggling to find time to read, but with The Glass Castle I made the time. After reading this book I am in awe of author Jeannette Walls and all she has accomplished in her life considering her upbringing. I laughed, cried and was left in complete shock at various times while reading. It’s the perfect quick read for the summer and should be on everyone’s TBR with the film adaptation coming out in August! 

Holley, Publicity Assistant: I am currently reading The Mother of All Questions by Rebecca Solnit. This collection of essays is short but pack a powerful punch! I have not stopped talking or thinking about this book since I started it just a few days ago. 

Stock up this weekend with some great summer reads! @rivetedlit‘s got some sci-fi, fantasy, rom-com and historical eBooks you can download to read!

Learn more: http://rivetedlit.com/2017/05/29/featured-reads-week-of-529/ 

We’re head over heels in love with When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon. We just can’t get enough, @bustle calls it the “arranged marriage YA rom-com we’ve been waiting for.”

Read an excerpt here: https://goo.gl/Ui4Nu7

With summer officially here, and more time to read, we thought we’d start up our Friday Reads posts again. Check out what the gang at Simon & Schuster Canada are reading this week!

Brendan, Editor: I can never read just one book at a time, but I’ve started trying to balance the number of books on my nightstand by picking just one book of poetry and one full-length book. Right now, I’m pairing Adrienne Rich’s The Dream of a Common Language with Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.  Each writer knows how to craft superb poetry and prose, so even if I don’t read for a long time, every word is exquisite.

Shannon, Publicity Assistant: I’m in the midst of the last in Jenny Han’s latest series, Always and Forever, Lara Jean, and it is just as page turning as To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and P.S. I Still Love You.  I’m so going to miss these characters, but I’m excited to see where their stories end.  How will Lara Jean deal with moving away to college?  Will Kitty be okay as the only one of the Song Sisters left at home?  Will Lara Jean and Peter make it through all the changes?! I guess I better keep reading to find out!

Alexandra, Marketing Assistant: This week I’ve been reading Roz Nay’s Our Little Secret. This book packs a punch, taking psychological thrillers to the next level. Angela is being held in a police interrogation room and questioned on the disappearance of her ex’s wife, Saskia. Our Little Secret has everything I love in a  book: a sweet romance, intriguing characters, and unexpected plot twists. Trust me, you won’t see this ending coming! 

Samantha, Sales Operations Associate: I tore through James Maskalyk’s Life on the Ground Floor in two days – it’s Maskyalyk’s engaging memoir of life as a doctor in a Toronto emergency room and his trips to Ethiopia to train doctors in emergency medicine.  In Toronto, he works long shifts at St. Mike’s dealing with everything from heart attacks to homeless people looking for a place to sleep.  In Ethiopia, the hospital doesn’t even always have electricity, and there have never been emergency rooms before.  Maskalyk is patient and compassionate in his writing, not ignoring the toll the profession takes on him, but not neglecting the patients’ dignity, either.  It’s clear that outcomes are affected by the resources the hospital has available, but in the end he is hopeful that continuing training and funding will raise standards outside of Canada.  Highly, highly recommended.