I saw this tag over on Secret Library and thought I’d give it a whirl!

FIND A BOOK FOR EACH OF YOUR INITIALS. 

S – Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick – I talked about this book here.

U – Upstairs in the Crazy House: The Life of a Psychiatric Survivor by Pat Capponi, a Canadian advocate that I had the privilege to meet many years ago.

E – Exit the Rainmaker by Jonathon Coleman. Haven’t we all wanted to disappear when things don’t go according to plan? In 1982, Jay Carsey left his home and his wife in Washington, D.C., where he was “the local college president, a government consultant, a person so well liked that he was affectionately referred to as “Uncle Jay” by both children and friends.” Although he was presumed dead, this is the story of what actually happened.

B – Bad Behaviour by Sheila O’Flanagan – O’Flanagan’s books are Irish chick-lit at its best. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, she had a career in financial services and in fact was Ireland’s first Chief Dealer.

C – (The) Cater Street Hangman by Anne Perry – This is the first book in the wonderful Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series of Victorian murder mysteries. Charlotte is a well-to-do young lady and Thomas is but a lowly police inspector, but they marry despite the unsuitability and go on to make a team — he as the police investigator and she as the lady with the requisite entrée into society.

COUNT YOUR AGE ALONG YOUR BOOKSHELF: WHAT BOOK IS IT?

That’s a lot of counting! The book turned out to be The Language of Sisters by Amy Hatvany. It must be time to read it again, because I don’t remember much about it… my fault, not the book’s. I tend to forget them in time, so I put the good ones aside to revisit later. This one is about the bond between sisters, one having escaped her troubled home and one being developmentally challenged. When a shocking event occurs, the second sister becomes pregnant, and the first sister returns to her home town to care for her.

PICK A BOOK SET IN YOUR CITY/COUNTRY.

Birds of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland is a book I bought when we first moved here, so my then 6-year-old son and I could identify the birds we saw in and around the neighbourhood. One of our first discoveries was the Steller’s Jay, which is British Columbia’s provincial bird.

PICK A BOOK THAT REPRESENTS A DESTINATION YOU’D LOVE TO TRAVEL TO.

All of Elin Hilderbrand’s novels are set in Nantucket. I believe I have around 10 of her women-centred stories. They are my go-to beach books and depict a place I would really love to visit.

PICK A BOOK THAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE COLOUR.

My favourite colour is purple. The purple book on my shelf is Life Is Just What You Make It by Donny Osmond and Patricia Romanowski. While I was not a fan of the Osmond’s music, the book is an interesting chronicle of the life of a child star, Osmond’s struggle with anxiety disorder, and his path to a well-balanced life.

WHICH BOOK DO YOU HAVE THE FONDEST MEMORIES OF?

Today, I’m thinking of Nonsense Novels, published in 1911 by Canadian humourist, Stephen Leacock, which I first read as a pre-teen. My father and I both enjoyed the silliness in these stories.

WHICH BOOK DID YOU HAVE THE MOST DIFFICULTY READING?

The most recent that comes to mind is Reckless: My Life as a Pretender by Chrissie Hynde. While I love The Pretenders and admire Chrissie Hynde’s spirit, I just could not finish this book. She has lead such an interesting life and yet her book is really boring! Imagine telling a story about giving Rod Stewart a lift home and having the story be dull!

WHICH BOOK IN YOUR TBR PILE WILL GIVE YOU THE BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT WHEN YOU FINISH IT?

I feel like I should read this book, for obvious practical reasons, but I am having a hard time making myself do it! The book is: Wealth Building: Lifelong Financial Strategies for Success with Your Money by Kurt Rosentreter.

I had a lot of fun rediscovering books I hadn’t looked at for a while. If you’d like to give it a whirl as well, consider yourself tagged.