Friday, August 20, 2021

Five on Friday - August 20, 2021 ~ Summer of Salt Book Review, Weekend in Fairmont, Novelly Yours The Circus of Dreams Box, McNally Robinson Subscription Box, and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have a great week - we got back from the cabin on Wednesday, got back in to a few days of work and now I'm ready for a relaxing weekend. (I've been away for 4 out of the past 5 weekends, and the one I was home for was my grandma's funeral, so I'm actually a little wiped out - can I have a vacation from my vacation time?!)

ONE 

I purchased everything in this post myself

I'm so excited to share a fun Summery book review - I'm really trying to keep up my book reviews and this was part of my Summer TBR books to read and I loved it. Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno is YA Magical Realism book focusing on the Fernweh family - their magic passes down in the women through generations, and each woman's magic shows before their 18th birthday. 

Georgina Fernweh just finished high school and is nearing her 18th birthday - her magic has not shown yet, where her twin sister Mary has been showing her ability to float for years. This is her last Summer on the island of By-the-Sea (before going off to school) - By-the-Sea is an island where strange things can happen and weird weather occurs all year. Also, every Summer tourists descend to catch a glimpse of a 300 year old bird. Tragedy strikes on the island and the Fernweh woman are cast in to a suspicious light - Georgina is trying to solve the mystery to help her family, while navigating storms, love and magic! 

I rated this a 4.5/5 stars - I absolutely enjoyed this little gem of a beachy summery magical book. I loved this moody Summer island setting - it was the perfect beach read (and I had no idea when this ducky popped in the photo that birds were such a prominent theme!) This is a little murder mystery, a little first love, a little bit of magic and I loved the themes and the strong women in the Fernweh family. I personally love a novel that focuses on characters, setting and atmosphere and this book really focused on that! 

TWO 


We spent the past weekend at the cabin in Fairmont again and it was lovely - we did lots of swimming, went to the beach, checked out the Radium Hot Springs, got a little close to a bear and enjoyed each other's company with our friends! 

This was not in an area where the forest fires are out of control and there are a ton of evacuations - I would heed any pleas to not visit while space is needed for evacuees - I certainly know we were really lucky to have a place to go to, but the poor province is not doing well right now Fingers crossed for some rain and the fires stop soon! 

THREE 


You guys, we are coming up to the 10th Anniversary of The Night Circus and I am all about all of the special editions things that are coming out for this anniversary! I already ordered the special Illumicrate box and now I just saw this Novelly Yours candle box and I had to order it right away! I cannot wait to get allllll of the Night Circus goodies! 

FOUR 


And, one of my favourite Indie bookstores, McNally Robinson just sneaked that they are doing a subscription box and I cannot wait to check this out (I know, the last thing I need is more books, but I'm really excited to see what this will be like!)

FIVE 

With this passing of bill C-5, September 30 has officially declared September 30 to be the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation - this was unofficially known as Orange Shirt Day and it is so important that this day be recognized and we continue to do our work on reconciliation where we can.

This has been an overwhelming week for world news and there is so much going on. I hope you all have a great weekend, and if you are in a position to donate to any of the causes and people affected by them, please do - we all need to help each other! 

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