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Reading

I read. A lot. The enforced “reading rests” of my childhood summers could have turned me into a book hater but no, they actually worked as my mother intended and today my favorite thing to do with downtime is read. I love sharing my passion for reading and have been known to accost people at used book sales and opine about the book they are considering... And then happy to suggest a few (dozen) others that they really must consider. 

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Here are a few favourites from over the years.

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Earliest known photo of me with a book

Those books I press into everyone’s hands

  • Restless by William Boyd

  • Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver

  • A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

  • Someone Knows My Name / The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

  • All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

  • Purge by Sofi Oksanen

  • The Circle by Dave Eggers

  • The Hare with Amber Eyes  by Edmund de Waal

  • Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell 

  • Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

  • The Cloud Sketcher by Richard Rayner

  • The Guncle by Steven Rowley

  • People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks

What've I've read - and loved - this year

  • Still Life by Sarah Winman

  • Memphis by Tara M Stringfellow

  • A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

  • The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

  • How Lucky by Will Leitch

  • The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow

  • The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley

  • Olivetti by Alli Millington

  • How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

My favourite picture books of all time

  • Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

  • Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes (who am I kidding - just about anything by Kevin Henkes or by Julia Donaldson)

  • The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield

  • Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf

  • Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees

  • Officer Buckle and Gloria - by Peggy Rathmann

  • The Little Blue Cottage by Kelly Jordan,  illustrated by Jessica Courtney-Tickle

  • Knight Owl by Christopher Denise

  • Dear Mr. G by Christine Evans, illustrated by Gracey Zhang

  • Viking in Love by Doug Cenko

  • It Will Be OK by Lisa Katzenberger, illustrated by Jacklyn Sinquett

Recent picture books I adore

  • Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrated by Yas Imamura

  • Lala's Words by Gracey Zhang

  • Apple and Magnolia by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Patricia Metola

  • The Boy Who Loved Maps by Kari Allen, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (one of my favourite illustrators ever!) ​

  • Fred Gets Dressed by Peter Brown

  • Love, Violet  by Charlotte Sullivan Wild, illustrated by Charlene Chua

  • Willow and Bunny by Anitra Rowe Schulte, illustrated by Christopher Denise

  • Small Things Mended by Casey Robinson, illustrated by Nancy Whitesides

  • Not Perfect by Maya Myers, illustrated by Hyewon Yum

 

See my Picture Book Pick of the Week on Instagram!

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