Author Archives: Mara Shapiro
Ok I’ll spill. I love Valentine’s Day. Not the overpriced version, though, where restaurants charge triple so they can serve you mashed potatoes shaped like hearts. I’m enamoured of the little symbols that can make our hearts swell over. I’m a romantic. I love romance. I love love, and I love thinking about love. While yeah, sure, people should be nice to each other every day, its sort of great that there’s one day where you can act like you’re in a chick flick and get away with it. Now, I’m not saying you need to go big or go … Continue reading
Some Favorite Holiday Books for the Christmas & Chanukah in all of Us
Mara Shapiro in Book Blogaholics - 0 comments - posted on Dec 6th, 2011December is a time to welcome winter, start getting excited about holiday celebrations, and set aside time to spend with family and friends. It’s always fun to have favourite books to share as you snuggle under the covers during the first (or fifth snowfall). There are some classic favourites that have stood the test of time, plus some Chanukkah books my family enjoyed as part of the season. The Gift of the Magi When I was a girl, I had an anthology of short stories. I cannot even remember what others were in the collection, but this one stood out … Continue reading
Steve Jobs: Amazing Innovator or Big Jerk?
Mara Shapiro in Book Blogaholics - 1 comment - posted on Dec 1st, 2011Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson Only recently did I become a convert to the World of Apple. But, just like Steve Jobs had hoped for when he created the iPod, I’ve become end-to-end integrated. My Apple experience goes from small (iPhone) to medium (iPad) to large (MacBook Air). I’m just still learning about the incredible functionality of all of my devices, but the question is what attracted me to the Apple products at first. And, the answer is, their ‘sexiness’. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. The book has been out for a … Continue reading
And the DONT READ Award Winners? PSHAW…
Mara Shapiro in Book Blogaholics, Just Between Us - 0 comments - posted on Nov 11th, 2011The other night, the ScotiaBank Giller Prize winner was announced. Its a book by a Canadian writer, Esi Adugyan, called Half-Blood Blues. Half Blood Blues From the National Post article announcing the win, ‘Half-Blood Blues tells the story of Sidney Griffiths, an elderly former jazz musician now living out his days in Baltimore. He is haunted by the disappearance of his friend and bandmate Hieronymus Falk, a black German trumpeter arrested by the Nazis in Paris at the start of the Second World War. When he’s invited to Berlin for the premiere of a documentary about Hieronymus, Sid sets out to uncover … Continue reading
Meeting Philippa Gregory (well, sort of…)
Mara Shapiro in Just Between Us - 0 comments - posted on Nov 3rd, 2011Last night I had the opportunity to ‘meet’ Philippa Gregory. I won’t rehash my fan-dom of her, other than including this picture of the books of my Philippa Collection that are not on my Kobo: My Philippa Gregory Collection I reviewed Gregory’s newest book, Lady of the Rivers, a little while ago. She was coming to Toronto, and my buddy at Simon & Schuster, Anneliese invited me to come to the talk and reading. I brought my Bestie, otherwise known as the Book Thief (she really likes my alter ego as a book reviewer). She’s also a historical fiction buff. … Continue reading
Chicktionary: For Dudes & Ladies Who Ain’t With It
Mara Shapiro in Book Blogaholics, Just Between Us - 0 comments - posted on Oct 27th, 2011Are you often confused by things you hear women saying in the nail salon? The gym? Browsing Ann Taylor and The Gap? Have no fear, Anna Lefler to the rescue with Chicktionary: From A-Line to Z-Snap, The words every woman should know. While browsing twitter profiles one day (don’t ask, I find amusement in interesting places), I noticed this in Anna’s profile: Obviously, I was totally intrigued, being a chick, a logophile as well as a sesquipedalian*. As well, I mean, her picture! It has a MOUSTACHE on it. Who wouldn’t want to read a book written by someone whose Twitter profile has a MOUSTACHE on … Continue reading
Beautiful Fiction: The DoveKeepers by Alice Hoffman
Mara Shapiro in Book Blogaholics - 1 comment - posted on Oct 20th, 2011The Dovekeepers by Alice Walker To read The Dovekeepers is like living the poetry of a lost time. Immaculately researched, vivid, lyrical, and just plain amazing, this novel is almost undescribable in its breadth, scope, and imagination. I was sent The Dovekeepers by Simon & Schuster. They told me it would be the next great book of the year. But, they had me at ‘hello’ when I heard it was a historical novel about Israel. I love to read books about the history and culture of ‘my people’ (I’m Jewish). One of my favourite books is The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant, … Continue reading
Classic Reads For Girls
Mara Shapiro in Book Blogaholics, Just Between Us - 4 comments - posted on Oct 3rd, 2011I know it comes as a shock, but I was a total bookworm growing up. Of course I read the usual Judy Blumes, Nancy Drews and VC Andrews books that all of my peers were reading. But, I also read beyond those popular books. These are some beloved classics that to me, still stand the test of time today. Many of these books are part of a series, which is wonderful for those of us who like to bond with the characters and have them live on in our imaginations. If you have a daughter who loves to read, or … Continue reading