Indigenous Reads (Firekeeper's Daughter, Elatsoe, Five Little Indians, Walking in Two Worlds)

Indigenous Reads (Firekeeper's Daughter, Elatsoe, Five Little Indians, Walking in Two Worlds)

Reading is something that I've always loved, and when the fall season rolls around I'm always that much more excited to sit down and read in the evenings. There is no doubt that I'm a mood reader, and fall is my favorite season. I wanted to jump back into blogging with a few Indigenous reads, if you're new to my blog I am Indigenous and I'm always on the lookout for new Indigenous reads. I make a conscious effort to seek out new authors or new-to-me books, and I found some great reads this year. This post includes fiction reads, but you can find some great non-fiction reads on my blog as well. Let's dive in:

Book Review: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Book Review: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Goodreads Description:
Malibu: August 1983. It's the day of Nina Riva's annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over--especially as the offspring of the legendary singer Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud--because it is long past time for him to confess something to the brother from whom he's been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can't stop thinking about promised she'll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own--including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family's generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind.

Book Review: Keeper'N Me by Richard Wagamese

Book Review: Keeper'N Me by Richard Wagamese

 


Description:

When Garnet Raven was three years old, he was taken from his home on an Ojibway Indian reserve and placed in a series of foster homes. Having reached his mid-teens, he escapes at the first available opportunity, only to find himself cast adrift on the streets of the big city.

Having skirted the urban underbelly once too often by age 20, he finds himself thrown in jail. While there, he gets a surprise letter from his long-forgotten native family.

The sudden communication from his past spurs him to return to the reserve following his release from jail. Deciding to stay awhile, his life is changed completely as he comes to discover his sense of place, and of self. While on the reserve, Garnet is initiated into the ways of the Ojibway -- both ancient and modern -- by Keeper, a friend of his grandfather, and last fount of history about his people's ways.

By turns funny, poignant and mystical, Keeper'n Me reflects a positive view of Native life and philosophy -- as well as casting fresh light on the redemptive power of one's community and traditions.

Review and Swatches: Sigma Beauty Ambiance Eyeshadow Palette

Review and Swatches: Sigma Beauty Ambiance Eyeshadow Palette

 Sigma beauty recently released a new collection called the “Ambiance Collection” a “sizzling sun-inspired collection.” This collection consisted of an eyeshadow palette, highlighter palette, five makeup brushes set with a beauty bag, and two lip glosses. The Sigma Ambiance palette was an immediate buy for me. I’m a neutral lover and the shades in this palette really caught my attention. I did not pick up any of the other products in the collection but they do look beautiful to me.


If you’re in Canada Sigma Beauty can be purchased through The Bay and they had this palette a few days before Sigma officially released the collection. As a Canadian, it was nice to order a product locally rather than pay customs or wait for it to come available here. Thank you to Sigma and The Bay for making this happen. As soon as I opened the palette, I knew this would be a perfect palette for me. The shades are absolutely stunning and I really like Sigma’s eyeshadow formula. I also own their Cor De Rosa palette which I have still not reviewed but I will soon. The Ambiance palette has a nice range of tones and textures; the mattes are so easy to blend and build and the shimmers are gorgeous. I’m someone who prefers both mattes and shimmers, I struggle to create all matte looks. This is a palette that inspires me and I keep grabbing for this one. 

Book Review: Still Life by Louise Penny


Book Review: Still Life by Louise Penny



Goodreads Description:


Winner of the New Blood Dagger, Arthur Ellis, Barry, Anthony, and Dilys awards.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec and his team of investigators are called into the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montréal and yet a world away. Jane Neal, a long-time resident of Three Pines, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it's a tragic hunting accident and nothing more but Gamache smells something foul this holiday season…and is soon certain that Jane died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.

With this award-winning first novel, Louise Penny introduces an engaging hero in Inspector Gamache, who commands his forces--and this series--with power, ingenuity, and charm.

Review and Swatches: Morphe 9E Pretty in Peach Palette

Review and Swatches: Morphe 9E Pretty in Peach Palette

It's been awhile since a Morphe palette caught my eye but I couldn't resist the Pretty in Peach palette. I really do enjoy 9 pan palettes, I prefer a small curated palette rather than a huge palette that's hard to store and a bitt overwhelming with similar shades. I picked up this palette through Sephora Canada for 16$. This palette is great for summer and I really do love the shades. 

Review and Swatches: Tarte Cosmetics Power Bar Neutral Palette

Review and Swatches: Tarte Cosmetics Power Bar Neutral Palette

Tarte has some of my favourite palettes and products. They're not talked about as much in the Youtube beauty community, but Tarte still has my heart. This 6 pan palette really caught my attention on the Sephora Canada site, and it actually reminded me of the Natasha Denona Camel palette which has been on my wishlist for a while. I can't say if the shades are dupes for each other, I really don't think they are but the packaging and shades reminded me of that palette. I've really come to appreciate a nicely curated smaller palette. This 6 pan palette has the perfect amount of shades where I can create a full look, and I have options with this palette. This is a great palette when I don't want to overthink a look, I can grab this and get my makeup done quickly. 

Review and Swatches: Viseart Minxette Etendu Palette

 

Review and Swatches: Viseart Minxette Etendu Palette

Viseart Cosmetics has really caught my attention this year and their palettes have really become staples in my everyday collection. This Minxette Etendu is a beautiful bronze warm palette. If you like a one-and-done palette that has all the shades you need to create a look, you will love this palette. It has a cream matte, a shimmery inner corner and it has a deep brown to darken up the outer corner. This would also make a great travel palette since you won’t need to grab a different palette to complete the look. I also have the Natasha Denona Bronze palette and I like them both. The Minxette still stands on its own and I like the range of shades. When I use the bronze palette, I have to pull in a different palette to complete a look. The Minxette has a lot of depth to the shadows and the mattes blend beautifully. 

Book Review: The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King

 

Book Review: The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King

Goodreads Description:

The Inconvenient Indian is at once a “history” and the complete subversion of a history—in short, a critical and personal meditation that the remarkable Thomas King has conducted over the past 50 years about what it means to be “Indian” in North America. 

Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book distills the insights gleaned from that meditation, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other. In the process, King refashions old stories about historical events and figures, takes a sideways look at film and pop culture, relates his own complex experiences with activism, and articulates a deep and revolutionary understanding of the cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands. 

This is a book both timeless and timely, burnished with anger but tempered by wit, and ultimately a hard-won offering of hope -- a sometimes inconvenient, but nonetheless indispensable account for all of us, Indian and non-Indian alike, seeking to understand how we might tell a new story for the future

A Low Buy Year: Shop Less and Use What You Own

 

A Low Buy Year: Shop Less and Use What You Own

Have you heard of a low buy/no-buy year? This is something that I came across on Youtube, and I recently read a book by Cait Flanders called The Year of Less and I'm really intrigued. The idea is to really pay attention to your shopping habits and try to spend less. Before purchasing the next thing you've decided you need, take a step back and see if you have something similar or might change your mind about the item. I've done spending freezes before, and it really helped to reset my brain from impulse purchasing. The longest I've gone was 30 days. I am an impulse shopper, especially when it comes to makeup and beauty items. At the same time, I also get overwhelmed by stuff and love to declutter and give away items I'm not using. I want to end this cycle and be a more conscious consumer. 

Book Review: Home Front by Kristin Hannah

 

Book Review: Home Front by Kristin Hannah


Book Description:

In this powerhouse of a novel, Kristin Hannah explores the intimate landscape of a troubled marriage with this provocative and timely portrait of a husband and wife, in love and at war.

All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost. . . .

Like many couples, Michael and Jolene Zarkades have to face the pressures of everyday lifechildren, careers, bills, choreseven as their twelve-year marriage is falling apart. Then a deployment sends Jolene deep into harm's way and leaves defence attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a soldier, she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-coloured version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his ownfor everything that matters to his family.

At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the toll war takes on an ordinary American family, Home Front is a story of love, loss, heroism, honour, and ultimately, hope.

Book Review: The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller

Book Review: The City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller


Rating: 4/5 
Book Description:

A full-hearted novel about a big-city baker who discovers the true meaning of home—and that sometimes the best things are found when you didn’t even know you were looking

When Olivia Rawlings—pastry chef extraordinaire for an exclusive Boston dinner club—sets not just her flambéed dessert but the entire building alight, she escapes to the most comforting place she can think of—the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont, home of Bag Balm, the country’s longest-running contra dance, and her best friend Hannah. But the getaway turns into something more lasting when Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous, sweater-set-wearing owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job. Broke and knowing that her days at the club are numbered, Livvy accepts.

Livvy moves with her larger-than-life, uber enthusiastic dog, Salty, into a sugarhouse on the inn’s property and begins creating her mouthwatering desserts for the residents of Guthrie. She soon uncovers the real reason she has been hired—to help Margaret reclaim the inn’s blue ribbon status at the annual county fair apple pie contest.

With the joys of a fragrant kitchen, the sound of banjos and fiddles being tuned in a barn, and the crisp scent of the orchard just outside the front door, Livvy soon finds herself immersed in small-town life. And when she meets Martin McCracken, the Guthrie native who has returned from Seattle to tend his ailing father, Livvy comes to understand that she may not be as alone in this world as she once thought.

But then another new arrival takes the community by surprise, and Livvy must decide whether to do what she does best and flee—or stay and finally discover what it means to belong. Olivia Rawlings may finally find out that the life you want may not be the one you expected—it could be even better.

Weekly Chat (Pandemic, Dollar Tea Club Subscription, Reading, Life)

Weekly Chat (Pandemic, Dollar Tea Club Subscription, Reading, Life)


One of my favourite parts of blogging is the journaling aspect for me. I love to go back and revisit my more personal posts. I wanted to bring back my life update type posts. Yes, I'm working from home and life has slowed down quite a bit but at the end of the day, life is still happening. This morning was freezing, taking my son to school. It was -27 degrees celsius, and you know it's cold when the snow under your feet is crunching as you walk. If you live in a cold climate, you know exactly what I'm talking about. This cold is sticking around for a few more days, I believe. 

Boxy Charm Unboxing January 2021 (Ciate London, Laura Geller, Farmacy, Dr.Brandt, Bali Balm)

Boxy Charm Unboxing January 2021


My January Boxycharm arrived, and I'm excited to share my box with you. Boxycharm is a monthly subscription box, and they do ship to Canada. They have different levels of boxes, and I'm subscribed to the base box. As a Canadian, I pay 5 dollars extra for shipping, and it comes to 30$ US per month. I like the variety of items I receive, the value of each box and I'm able to try brands that I normally wouldn't try. This month I'm mostly excited to try the Ciate London Velvet Eyeshadow palette. This month's theme for the box was Fresh Start. Let's get into what was in my box. 

Book Review: Girl with the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

Book Review: Girl with the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse


 



Amsterdam, 1943. Hanneke spends her days finding and delivering sought-after black market goods to paying customers, nights hiding the true nature of her work from her concerned parents, and every waking moment mourning her boyfriend, who was killed on the Dutch front lines when the German army invaded. Her illegal work keeps her family afloat, and Hanneke also likes to think of it as a small act of rebellion against the Nazis.

On a routine delivery, a client asks Hanneke for help. Expecting to hear that Mrs. Janssen wants meat or kerosene, Hanneke is shocked by the older woman’s frantic plea to find a person: a Jewish teenager Mrs. Janssen had been hiding, who has vanished without a trace from a secret room. Hanneke initially wants nothing to do with such a dangerous task but is ultimately drawn into a web of mysteries and stunning revelations—where the only way out is through.

Review and Swatches: Urban Decay Naked Honey Eyeshadow Palette

Review and Swatches: Urban Decay Naked Honey Eyeshadow Palette

The Urban Decay Naked Honey palette launched in 2020 and comes with 12 matte, metallic and shimmer golden neutral shades. This palette consists of "classic golds, warm ambers, and rich chocolate browns." and was inspired by 70's glam. While this palette is not vegan, it is paraben-free, sulfate-free, phthalate-free, and cruelty-free. The included brush is vegan and cruelty-free and really is a decent brush for eyeshadow application. It is housed in sturdy plastic packaging and it has a nice mirror as well. 

Product Review Beakey Sponges: The Best Affordable Beauty Sponges on Amazon

 

Product Review Beakey Sponges: The Best Affordable Beauty Sponges on Amazon

Beakey sponges came to my attention at the beginning of the pandemic when I needed sponges, but I wasn't going into stores to pick up any products. I hear a few things about these sponges and decided it was time to try them. I ordered them from Amazon, and at the time I had to wait a few weeks because Amazon was prioritizing what items they were shipping out. My initial impressions were that the sponges were a nice size and expanded nicely. I've been testing them for months and decided it was time to review them. 

Review and Swatches: Morphe 9V Vintage Rose Palette

 

Review and Swatches: Morphe 9V Vintage Rose Palette

The Morphe 9V Vintage Rose palette is a 9 pan palette that consists of dusty rose shades. I love these type of shades, and I picked this palette up quite a few months ago. During the beginning of the pandemic, I started working from home and didn't wear much makeup. I have a backlog of makeup I need to review and test out. This palette is a favourite of mine, I think Morphe did a great job with the formula and the shade selection. If I compare this with their previous 9 pan palettes, I do think the formula has been improved. 

Book Review: A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

Book Review: A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler


 

A Spool of Blue Thread is a family saga that includes three generations told through snapshots. This book is universal, relatable and engaging. The Whitshank family could easily be your family, or the family next door. They’re not perfect, they struggle and like all families, they don’t always agree. Anne Tyler does a great job looking at family dynamics. This story centers around Abby and Red, their four children and the history of the house- built by Red’s father and his dream. Tyler allows readers to realize that achieving your dream doesn’t always lead to happiness. 

Review and Swatches: Natasha Denona Peak Palette

 

Review and Swatches: Natasha Denona Peak Palette

The Natasha Denona Peak palette was included in my November 2020 Boxycharm base box. This palette is a Boxycharm exclusive but you may be able to find it around on the web. This palette is a 5 pan palette "featuring Natasha's essential everyday warm-toned eye pigments that she mixes and matches from her favourite palette." These shades are not new to the Natasha Denona lineup, they've actually been taken from the Biba, Safari and Sunrise palette. The shades are (Aya, Jasper, Thorn, Amhara, Shine) from left to right. 

Review and Swatches: Morphe X Madison Beer Palette

Morphe X Madison Beer Palette (Review and Swatches)

I picked up the Morphe X Madison Beer palette through Sephora Canada and was excited to try a new Morphe palette because it had been months since I purchased any new makeup. For much of the summer, I didn't bother wearing eyeshadow. The product description claims to be "a palette that contains soft neutrals and rose-gold hues, Madison's musts for any occasion." I will admit I had no clue who Madison was, but I liked the look of this palette and picked it up for 28$. Madison is actually a singer-songwriter and this collection also contains and brush set, lip gloss and other products. I am only reviewing the eyeshadow palette, I did not pick up anything else in the collection. 

Book Review: Bear Necessity by James Gould-Bourn (5 Stars)

Book Review: Bear Necessity by James Gould-Bourn (5 Stars)

My reading for 2021 started off strong with Bear Necessity. When Danny’s wife passes away in a tragic car accident, Danny must pick up the pieces and take care of their son. Will is eleven years old and hasn’t spoken in the year since his Mom passed. Danny works construction but is let go from the job, and he doesn’t know what to do. He needs money fast, his landlord is threatening him with bodily hard if he doesn’t come up with the rent money soon. Danny tries to find a job but is unsuccessful and desperate. After observing street performers in a local park, Danny spends his last few dollars on a panda costume and hopes for the best. While performing one day, Danny sees Will being bullied by some older kids and he rescues Will while in the costume. Will had no idea it’s his father and tells him “Thank you.” It’s the first time he’s heard his Son speak in a year. During the next few weeks, Will stops by and speaks to the panda about his life and missing his Mom. Danny stays silent and tries to support his son. 

Life Update: Pandemic, parenting and history

Life Update: Pandemic, parenting and history



We are 8 days in 2021 and it’s been an interesting 8 days. Canada has our highest numbers of Covid-19 cases being reported and our day to day lives are different. My husband is back to work, I am working from home, and my son was in virtual school this week. We were juggling all the schedules this week, but it’s working and we’re doing okay. My son’s school is reopening for in-person learning next week, and I have a mix of emotions. I know the kids prefer to be in class, they learn better in class, and virtual school for a 7-year-old is tough. I do wish our numbers were lower though. I’m scared, we live in a scary world right now. Before the break, we still had zero cases reported for the school and I really pray that we stay safe.


My province has implemented a curfew that will begin this weekend, this will not really change our day to day lives since we’re home by 8 pm anyway. I see a lot of people are upset but we really need people to understand that gathering in homes is not acceptable, we need our numbers to come down- our hospitals are overloaded.  I really believe this should have been implemented during the holidays, it has been reported that 48% of people still gathered during the holidays. The people who are upset about the 8pm curfew, I want to ask, “where were you going anyway?” We’re supposed to stay home.