Spadina streetcar platform

Caucasian woman, mid 20s, with wet, long brown hair pushed back by glasses, wearing long brown coat, and small leather backpack.

The Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell (Anchor)

Page 20:

There is something magical about films. The person you are looking at is also somewhere else at the same time. That is the condition of a god. If a movie actor comes into the theater, everybody turns and looks at the movie actor. He is the real hero of the occasion. He is on another plane. He is a multiple presence. What you are seeing on the screen really isn’t he, and yet the ‘he’ comes.

If she didn’t answer her phone, he’d worry she’d fallen asleep in the tub, and skip out of work to check in on her. If she did answer her phone, he’d hear the noise and know. The phone continued to pulse and glow against the sticky table top, a fresh beer released from a stranger’s fingers into hers.

***

Enter the CBC Book Club contest!
Winner receives signed copies of this year’s Canada Reads contenders, plus a tote bag!
Follow along for details @seenreading.

Westbound, Bloor and Bay

Asian male, mid 20s, with short brown hair, and broad-framed glasses, wearing pink collared shirt under brown cardigan, and purple paisley scarf.

Choke, Chuck Palahniuk (Anchor)

Page 43:

I write it all down. I inventory what’s left of her, the spots and wrinkles and her swollen or empty skin and flakes and rashes, and I write reminders to myself.
Every day: Wear sunblock.
Cover your gray.
Don’t go insane.
Eat less fats and sugars.
Do more sit-ups.
Don’t start forgetting stuff.
Trim the hair in your ears.

The night before his girlfriend’s biopsy, they decided to get serious about their health. They sat on the bed and he drew a line down the centre of the page. “Okay,” he said, staring wide at the paper, nodding as if psyching himself up for some athletic feat. “I propose we divide the list into two columns.” His hand shook as he wrote out the headings in unfamiliar writing. “‘Things we keep,’ he recited aloud, and ‘Things we cut off.’” It continued to dawn on him for an agonizingly long time just how remarkable a slip it was.

***

I’m running a CONTEST at Twitter in partnership with Chapters-Indigo. They’ve offered up a generous gift card so I can go shopping! For you!

Here’s how it works:

1. Go to Twitter and follow @seenreading.
2. @reply me 10 words that describe you best.
3. Use the hashtag #srcontest
4. Next week, I’ll choose 5-10 winners at random.

But this is where the real fun begins! Using your 10 words, I’ll be your personal shopper, hand picking a book I think you might get a kick out of!

So git on over to @seenreading, and show me what you’re made of!