Meg Reads

  I haven't been so utterly besotted with a character as I was with Aisling in a very, very long time. I also think this audiobook may have broken some records on the number of times it made me snort laugh out loud with the endless Irish-isms, and the genuine hilarious earnestness of our dear Aisling.  It's no secret that I love/am fairly obsessed with any and everything Irish. I'm Canadian as can be, but my paternal grandmother has roots in Ireland (and shared many of the cultural perspectives that came up in this book for the country folk, it turns out), and my mother's grandmother had family from Northern Ireland, I think. Anyway, like I said, I'm Canadian af, and so are my parents and their parents, so I'm certainly not claiming citizenship here or something. But I do think some very old family traits and traditions have made it down the line to the things we still find ourselves doing today. Additionally, many of my fond memories are due to a tiny, spritel...

What better thing is there to do during a pandemic than bury yourself in the animated films of your early childhood? This is what I've found myself doing lately as the weather has turned darker and wetter, and I've turned more bitter and dismal as well. There's something so light, inspirational, and glorious about revisiting these old Disney movies that left me with an endless sense of wonder, as well as some ill-advised ideas about gender roles and relationships. Ahem, anyway. It recently came to my attention that some of the aspects of the old Disney films I loved most — things like bold colour and style of backgrounds or scenery like in Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, or Cinderella — were all either Mary Blair 's concept design or colour styling. And if it wasn't a Disney film she actually touched herself, it's a safe bet she influenced it.  A short rundown on Mary Blair according to wikipedia : she was an American artist who started her animation career at M...

  The year is winding down, and I've been thinking a lot lately about my spending. Unsurprisingly, with the pandemic that shall not be named, I haven't exactly been what one might call "frugal". Boredom and depressing doldrums of life being stuck indoors away from other people haven't made it easy to say no to whatever cute thing Instagram serves up while I doom-scroll the internet for the bajillionth time.  I typically never feel truly bad about buying new books, though I've come to a point where I've realized that the sheer number of books I have on hand would take me years to finish. And hey perhaps it's worth stopping for a second and taking a closer look at those before I dive into yet another Kindle deal. Plus, for me a physical paperback is worlds more enjoyable to read than a screen. I also feel like I may be missing out on a few big hits from a couple years back from a cultural standpoint. As someone inclined to the FOMO in general, I should ...