nadya with a why: What's in my book bag

Happy first day of October! October is my favourite month, so I though I'd turn a new page (or leaf) and start something new on the blog.

I visited a lovely bookstore in Halifax called Bookmark II on Spring Garden Road (conveniently located near a pizza joint...) The bookstore carried an incredible line of canvas book bags from a company called Out of Print. Many of their items feature everything to do with banned books, classic novels and notebooks. When I found a canvas bag in the shape of my favourite notebook of all time, the black and white composition notebook (circa Harriet the Spy era)... well, I completely nerded out.

I've been using the bag nearly every day ever since and it's come in handy not only for carrying my books, but also a few of my favourite things.

I thought I'd put my own spin on those ever-popular "Monthly Favourite" videos from Youtube by sharing my "monthly favourites" according to what's in my book bag. Most of these items are literal, while some, as you may notice, are more figurative.

Of course, I'll start with the most important matter of business:

CURRENTLY READING

I mentioned Everything is Illuminated in an earlier blog post, but now I'm actually reading it for an upcoming book report. I chose this book specifically because I have a feeling Jonathan Safran Foer has unique narrative techniques. From what I've read about the book so far (and picked up from the movie trailer), he seems to use a very layered and complex narrative structure that's partly fictionalized. The book I'm working on isn't fictional at all, but I am really interested in seeing how Foer did this with his story.

I'm also catching up on some of my favourite magazines, including Quill & Quire and Maisonneuve (#SupportCanadianMagazines)

PHOTO CREDIT: "The Maze Runner cover" by Source.
Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Maze_Runner_cover.png#/media/File:The_Maze_Runner_cover.png

I'm going to try and borrow these from the library soon. I happened upon The Maze Runner on Netflix about a week ago and I became obsessed. I enjoyed it so much I re-watched it the next day. There are certainly elements of the story I don't enjoy (i.e. The white saviour figure) or ones I understand entirely just yet (i.e. The "child killing" narrative (see: The Hunger Games). However, I think the movie works to disprove these tropes and question them rather than promote them. Essentially, the movie made me think for hours and hours and I was still talking about it the next day — naturally I was excited to find out the sequel was coming out shortly after I saw the first movie.

I saw The Scorch Trials last weekend and I knew I'd have to read the books to get the full experience. I don't want to divulge too much here about The Maze Runner as I'd like to write a separate blog post for the series.

CURRENTLY WRITING IN

I discovered something very important last week: I write better and more efficiently by hand. This means I'll be ditching my laptop from now on when it comes time to write out chapters, brainstorms and story lines. Although the composition notebook is my favourite, I have to say the neon notebook is the winner here for coming with a see-through pen pouch.

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO

Typical 90s child...

"Are You That Somebody" by Aaliyah (June 1998)

"Criminal" by Fiona Apple (September 1997)

PHOTO CREDIT: "CriminalCover".
Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CriminalCover.jpg#/media/File:CriminalCover.jpg

How did it take me this bloody long to get into Fiona Apple's music and writing? She gives me Regina Spektor and Vanessa Carleton vibes.

"Only Happy When it Rains" by Garbage (September 1995)

Still from "Only Happy When It Rains"

CURRENTLY WATCHING

PHOTO CREDIT: "Jane the Virgin logo" by Source.
Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jane_the_Virgin_logo.png#/media/File:Jane_the_Virgin_logo.png

I have waited all summer for Season 2 of Jane the Virgin and it's finally airing October 12! It's such an underrated show. I dare say that it may even surpass my love of My So-Called Life—and that has been my favourite show for nearly 10 years.