
BOOKmarkable: adventures in reading
Are you a reader? Or just book curious? There is no doubt that reading can make life richer. But there are so many books, so little time, where do you even start?
Join me on a journey into the remarkable reading possibilities to be found in fiction and non-fiction alike to amplify your reading enjoyment!
Explore the magical adventure and intimate journey of reading. I will share my latest reading adventures and have conversations with other readers to learn about their great finds to help you find yours, with discussions and conversations about my (and your) latest, greatest reads.
Design: inShort Creative
Show theme: CS Jackson.
Episodes

Friday May 30, 2025
Episode 17: My conversation with author Frances Peck
Friday May 30, 2025
Friday May 30, 2025
I am so pleased to be able to share my first-ever interview with a published author here on Bookmarkable. I was delighted to sit down with local North Vancouver writer Frances Peck to discuss her debut novel, The Broken Places — a Globe and Mail best book of 2022, and finalist for the 2023 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.
We had a lot to talk about and time flew by! We learned a bit about her second novel, Uncontrolled Flight and she gave some insight into the novel she’s working on now and her writing process.
We also dove into all the ways reading has been a key influence, inspiration, object of focused study and pleasure throughout her life. Plus we explored areas of common interest.
Books and authors mentioned on this episode:
The Broken Places and Uncontrolled Flight by Frances Peck
Thomas Hardy (Far from the Madding Crowd, Tess of the D’Ubervilles, Jude the Obscure, The Mayor of Casterbridge).Monty Python sketch: Novel Writing: Thomas Hardy writes Return of the NativeGeorge ElliotCharles DickensFebruary by Lisa MooreSylvanus Now by Donna MorriseyThe Handmaids Tale, Cat’s Eye by Margaret AtwoodThe Fireman and The Heart-shaped Box by Joe HillStephen King (anything by)Raymond ChandlerDashiell HammettThe Princess Bride and others by William GoldmanWhen We Cease to Understand the World and The Maniac by Benjamin LabututMandy by Julie Edwards (aka Julie Andrews)Ken FollettSidney SheldonScruples, by Judith KrantzClarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady and Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded, by Samuel RichardsonCharles DickensJane AustenBarbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell)The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John FowlesElizabeth GeorgeRobert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)A Time to Write in Earnest by PD JamesThe Pilot’s Wife by Anita ShreveAnne TylerLouise ErdrichRomantic Comedy, Eligible, American Wife and Prep by Curtis SittenfeldJodi PicoultAmericanah and Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieThe Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer and The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha MukherjeeA Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry Anosh Irani
Crash Landing by Li Charmaine AnneThe Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn BarnesOn Freedom by Timothy Snyder

Sunday May 25, 2025
Episode 16: Canadian Independent Bookstore Day
Sunday May 25, 2025
Sunday May 25, 2025
Happy One-Year Anniversary to Bookmarkable!
On April 26, I went to the Canadian Independent Bookstore Day at Cross & Crows Books on Commercial Drive in Vancouver, BC. There were tables of people selling jewellery, authors promoting their books and a pop-up bookstore for the currently online Perfect Match romance bookstore, with owner Amy Pelletier displaying lots of physical copies of popular books. She is searching for a good spot in the city for a physical bookstore, coming soon. You can follow her on IG @perfectmatchbookshop. I also spoke with the book crawl organizer, (there was a book crawl of all independent bookstore on Commercial Drive "the Drive"), who goes by the handle Lady Jane who has a website romancingthedata.com/ and you can find her on IG @romancingthedata. I know on the podcast she also mentions Focus on Romance, but I'm not sure that IG account is hers...
I spoke with author Wren Handman and purchased her set-in-Vancouver book, A Midnight So Deadly. I also spoke with a bookstore browser Ben Hill who has a legacy podcast called History of the Mongols (you can still find it and it is fascinating). I also met Ruby Smith Diaz and purchased her book Searching for Seraphim about the late great Vancouver legend, "Joe" Fortes. I met the author Li Charmaine Anne.
Other authors and books mentioned on this podcast include:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray BradburyThe Rising Tide by Anne CleevesThe Rachel Incident by Caroline O’DonoghueThe Broken Places by Frances PeckBe Useful: Seven Rules for Life by Arnold SchwarzeneggerBusiness or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn SolomonGreat Big Beautiful Life by Emily HenryPractice Makes Perfect by Sarah AdamsOn Freedom by Timothy SnyderThe Lady’s Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness by Sarah RameyThe Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Saturday Apr 19, 2025
Saturday Apr 19, 2025
Hello Bookmarkable listeners: Before I forget, here’s where you can signup for April 26th’s Vancouver Book Crawl - or just drop by Cross & Crows bookstore at 1 pm: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/vancouver-book-crawl-tickets-1322842340049. I hear there will be contests and prizes too, plus a popup of a new local romance bookstore, Perfect Match.
Reflections on comfort genre (bliss) reading - my conversation with Cathy Needham. In this episode we talked about or I mentioned a few writers and books including:
Elizabeth GeorgeThomas King’s Thumps DreadfulWater seriesTommy OrangeRichard WagameseTana French - Faithful PlacePeter Robinson’s Alan Banks’ seriesLouise PennyRobert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)Agatha ChristieColin Dexter (Inspector Morse series)Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van PeltGregory Ashe, (Hazard & Somerset series)Ruth Ware, One Perfect CoupleAnn Cleeves - The Rising TideElizabeth StroutAlone by Megan E. FreemanHatchet by Gary PaulsenA Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly JacksonKate Atkinson, Jackson Brodie mysteries, as well as Life After Life and A God in RuinsThe Love Wager by Lynn PainterStay by Elle Kennedy and Sarina BowenThe Rule Book and Beg, Borrow or Steal by Sarah AdamsSay You’ll Remember Me by Abby JimenezPromise Me Sunshine by Cara BastoneFaith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’HaganElizabeth Finch by Julian BarnesAmerican War by Omar El AkkadCareless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams
Love sharing the book love with you!

Sunday Mar 30, 2025
Episode 14: Books that got me through to spring
Sunday Mar 30, 2025
Sunday Mar 30, 2025
Here are the books I mentioned in this episode:
Stolen Focus by Johann HariPiranesi and Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna ClarkOne Day Everyone Will Have been Against This and American War by Omar Al El AkkadNothing Like the Movies by Lynn Painter PS: I Hate You by Lauren Connolly First Time Caller by BK Borison Under Your Spell by Laura Wood Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell Deep End by Ali Hazelwood Promise me Forever by Debbie Macomber Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
I also mentioned the podcasts:
Reading GlassesFated MatesThe One You Feed
If you enjoy listening, please let me know, give me a rating. If you have ideas for shows or books, send me an email at readfionaread@gmail.com.
Thank you for listening and many happy blessings for reading journey!

Sunday Feb 23, 2025
Episode 13: February and a new philosophy of reading in these times
Sunday Feb 23, 2025
Sunday Feb 23, 2025
Wherein I seek to patch together meaning with the insights, gleaned from my latest reads, that point the way with many signs that might mean something. To sum up: reading might not always give you answers but it helps.
Here are books mentioned in this episode:
Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve CavanaghI am Pilgrim by Terry HayesBurn Out: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia NagoskiAll My Rage and Ember in Ashes by Sabaa Tahir Is She Really Going Out With Him by Sophie CousensWildfire by Hannah GraceGood Boy by Elle Kennedy and Sarina BowenEvie Drake Starts Over by Linda HolmesButcher & Blackbird, part of the Ruinous Love Trilogy by Brynne WeaverStolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again, by Johann HariBreakfast of Champions and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.Catch 22 by Joseph HellerName of the Wind by Patrick RothfussThe Life Impossible, by Matt HaigHow to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen PerrinSmall Mercies by Dennis Lehane, An Academy for Liars by Alexis HendersonOn Freedom by Timothy SnyderFaith Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan
Reach the show by emailing: readfionaread@gmail.com

Sunday Jan 26, 2025
Episode 12: January 2025 a short check-in
Sunday Jan 26, 2025
Sunday Jan 26, 2025
It's a new year and I'm here and making it through January. Books are always there for comfort, guidance and reflection, showing the way. But you still need to read them (or listen to them). What circumstances help you feel like you can read more challenging titles and in hardcover? It's not just about having enough time. Waiting for tips: I need role models...
Here's books I mention on this show:
The Message and Between the World and Me by Ta Neishi Coates
Martyr by Kaveh Akbar
The Land of Lost Things by John Connolly
Whiskey Tender by Deborah Jackson Taffa
Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan
Beautiful, Beautiful by Brandon Reid
I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes (audio by Christopher Ragland)
Roar and Next Level by Stacy T. Sims

Friday Dec 13, 2024
Episode 11 - My November books and what's next
Friday Dec 13, 2024
Friday Dec 13, 2024
I look back on my year of reading with more gusto, and starting this podcast in May...and share my latest reading adventures from the month of November. Books or authors mentioned or discussed include:
Read Dangerously: the Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Time by Azar Nafisi
Beneath the Surface of Things by Wade Davis
Sarah J. Maas
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Grief is for People, by Sloane Crossley
A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall
How we Named the Stars by Andres N. Ordorica
Somewhere Beyond the Sea and House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes (read by Christopher Ragland)
The Martyr by Kaveh Akbar
There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak
Knife by Salman Rushdie
If you have ideas for future shows, books you recommend or want to share anything else, you can email the show at readfionaread@gmail.com.

Friday Nov 01, 2024
Conversation with Claudia Sjoberg
Friday Nov 01, 2024
Friday Nov 01, 2024
Claudia is a local (Vancouver) business owner, entrepreneur, community leader, and all round wonderful, fun and caring friend to many.
She is also a big reader and shared with me the long impressive list of books she's read with her book club -- but we also delved into some of the many more books she reads and enjoys beyond that list. We followed a list of questions to uncover what she likes and doesn't like and heard what she's come to know is important for her in reading, and the power of the story for all of us.
We looked for a couple of books we'd both enjoyed reading and settled on these two Canadian reads, the novel Indian Horse by Richard Wagameseand the memoir in essays, Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory by Sarah Polley.
Other books that came up in our discussion were:
Women Talking by Miriam ToewsThe Paying Guest by Sarah WattsThe Alchemist by Paolo CoehloThe Celestine Prophecy by James RedfieldThe Secret by Rhonda ByrneBooks by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) -- the Cormoran Strike detective seriesIona Whishaw Lane Winslow mystery seriesCloud Atlas by David MitchellOlive Kitteridge, Olive Again, My name is Lucy Barton and Oh William! by Elizabeth StroutInfinite Jest by David Foster WallaceMiss Morgan’s Book Brigade by Janet Skeslien CharlesDoppelgänger by Naomi Klein
Children’s books:Jumanji and The Polar Express by Chris Van AllsburgOne Halloween Night by Mark TeagueNorman the Doorman by Don Freeman