Best Book Recommendations

September 30, 2015 , In: Books, Design , With: 5 Comments
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Best Book Recommendations | RoastedMontreal.com

Always on the hunt for great reading material, I asked a variety of awesome gals for the book they would recommend to a friend right now.  It didn’t have to necessarily be their favourite book of all time, but it could be.   And it could be in English or French – because that’s how we roll here in Montreal.

I was delighted and surprised by their recommendations and now have so many great reads on my wish list.

Melanie Lambrick, Creator, Melanie Lambrick Illustration
The Maytrees by Annie Dillard – This isn’t my favourite book, but it’s wonderful and I would recommend it to a friend. When I feel like living in the city is too much, I always go back to Annie Dillard because her descriptions of the natural world are beautiful and all-encompassing. The Maytrees is a spare, poignant love story that’s completely intertwined with the landscape. It’s superb. Also, you could almost read it in one sitting.


Camilla Wynne, Founder and Owner, Preservation Society
 100% my favorite books right now are the Neapolitan novels by Elena Ferrante. The first is My Brilliant Friend. Each book is better than the last, and they are so incredibly engrossing. It’s a deeply insightful portrait of female friendship in a time of great change: honest, raw, intelligent and beautiful

Best Book Recommendations | RoastedMontreal.com

Lucy Baum, Founder and Owner, Lucy Baum Photography
I’m currently reading the second novel in the series Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, named Hollow City.  I learned of it when someone posted a video on Facebook of the search for the house that is featured in the first book. The author teamed up with an urban explorer in Belgium to find the location for the filming of the movie.  I was drawn to the series as I’m a fan of dark stories, find inspiration of our history through abandoned and interesting places and love the author’s use of photographs to complement the writing. I found the story to be very original with a compelling set of characters. It drew me right in, which is a rush that I love with a good book.  True to how my husband describes my reading habits (I eat books), I devoured the first novel within about a day (and into the night – another good sign!!).

 

Best Book Recommendations | RoastedMontreal.com

 Noémie Vaillancourt, Designer and Founder, Noémiah
Retraite by Renaud Jean
Je recommande ce recueil de nouvelles, non seulement parce que c’est mon copain qui l’a écrit, mais aussi parce que c’est joliment écrit, doux amer et drôle à la fois./I’m recommending this collection of stories not just because it was my boyfriend who wrote it but also because it’s beautifully written, bittersweet and funny.

little dude

Ana Duque, Real Estate Broker, Duque Simms Team – Sutton
I am one of those people who are in the process of reading 7+ books at any given time. I often have two novels, one recipe book, 2 business books and 2 self improvement books by my bed.

The Power Of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business by Charles Duhigg
Super insightful and full of practical tools to take control of things we find difficult to change. It has the right mix of science and storytelling to explain how habits work and how to change them. My first success: Getting into the habit of getting up at 5:30 AM by choice, to take time for myself (meditation/yoga/reading) before everybody else is up. The positive impact on every aspect of my life is tremendous. Bonus: Having tools to help my 10 year old establish better habits for herself.

Food wise, I have really enjoyed the recipe books by Yotam Ottolenghi. I discovered him with Plenty and I have to say his books have opened our culinary world to explo
re and discover different flavours: Sumac, Za’atar, using yogurt as a sauce… the chickpea soup in Plenty – although long to make – is absolutely sensational.

The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. SiegelI wish I had read this 10 years ago (I have a 10 year-old and an almost 4 year-old) — This book is full of simple wisdom; it provides keys to communicate successfully with your children and help them navigate the world at any age; but the strategies this books provides will also be helpful when communicating with your spouse… or just about anyone else! Again, a perfect combination of science and storytelling

My husband and I are really passionate about coffee. He is very interested in roasting and we discovered this beautiful book with a lovely story at a coffee shop in Little Burgundy, where we live. The Blue Bottle Craft Of Coffee by James Freeman – We are always fascinated by people leaving successful careers to follow their dreams, and this California roaster did just that. His wife’s recipes are at the end of the book (she’s a pastry chef) and a good friend had the chance to taste both their coffee and their waffles and he came back raving about them.

 

Thank-you ladies for your advice!

 

Do you have any books you’d like to recommend?

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  1. Reply

    I’ll be looking up that coffee book! 🙂

      • Michelle
      • September 30, 2015
      Reply

      I know – it all looks so good!

    • Amanda
    • September 30, 2015
    Reply

    You should check out http://www.bookdumpling.com. Such an amazing website and has great book reviews and seems to always know what I want!!!

      • Michelle
      • September 30, 2015
      Reply

      Thanks – I just checked it out and it looks amazing!

  2. Pingback: Best Cookbook Recommendations | Roasted

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Michelle Little

Writer & Photographer

Originally from the prairies and now in Montreal, I love exploring new places, eating great food and modern design. I'm mom of two wild things and paper and cake make me happy. Photographing your cutie family would make me very happy.

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