Tea Time with flo. - January

Cozy up with a warm cup of tea for a recap of our favourite January reads!

Erin—nonfiction editor

To kick off the new year, I decided to read a book with a lot of buzz: Jennette McCurdy’s I’m Glad My Mom Died. Surprisingly blunt and candid for a celebrity memoir, reading McCurdy’s book felt like a long heart to heart with an old friend over many, many cups of tea. Though not sobbing-on-the-floor sad or laugh-out-loud funny, this memoir is sure to make you shed a tear and embarrassingly nose snort chuckle.

This book pairs well with a classic London fog—earl grey, frothed milk, and vanilla. Comforting, but strong enough to keep you up at night because it’s hard to put this book down!

rating: 🍵🍵🍵🍵🍵

Senka—poetry & visual arts editor

I started off the new year with a book that I placed on hold at the Ottawa Public Library so long ago that I couldn’t even remember what it was or why I wanted to read it: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Hosseini knows how to hook you into the story and uses literary devices to his benefit. The storyline is sad—I cried at least thrice—but possibly to the point of falling under the category of “trauma porn”. Nevertheless, it’s a book worth reading as long as it is approached with an appropriate level of critical thinking.

I would recommend reading this book alongside something fruity, like apricot tea, to provide you with some much needed emotional support as you read.

rating: 🍵🍵🍵🍵

Katrina—fiction editor

School has given me a new appreciation and honest joy for classic literature. For a Canadian Literature class we were asked to read As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross and I devoured the deeply rich characters and landscape of the novel in no time at all. There is something so gloomy and and yet so succulent about the way Sinclair Ross writes. His use of unreliable narrator paired with the diary format of the book was a wonderful way of tucking little secrets and intricacies between the words making it a novel that can be read over and over again without becoming tedious or stagnant.

I would pair this book with a classic green tea. Something bitter but still fresh and enjoyable.

rating: 🍵🍵🍵🍵🍵

Jen—poetry first reader

With the winter semester in full swing at Carleton University, I’ve been struggling to find time to read for leisure. Nevertheless, I keep a book of poetry on my nightstand to pick away at before bed when I’m not too exhausted. Recently, I’ve started reading Ocean Vuong’s collection of poetry Night Sky with Exit Wounds. Vuong’s voice and style inspires me to learn how to articulate my deepest emotions and memories into poetry, as he does it so eloquently and with such grace.

I’ve paired my go-to breakfast tea with this book to keep me energized for the day: Tealyra’s English Breakfast blend is one of my greatest comforts through busy weeks, as it both keeps me awake and never fails to brew a tasty and comforting cuppa.

rating: 🍵🍵🍵🍵

Salem—Social media manager

I've been absolutely loving dark academia lately, and in keeping with this interest my most recent read was M.L. Rio’s If We Were Villains. Full of drama, intrigue, and enough Shakespeare to make my bardic heart weep with joy, If We Were Villains explores the intricacies of friendship and trust, and the dangers of obsession. A murder mystery told through acts much like a Shakespearean play, Rio kept me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

I would pair this book with a cozy Chai hot chocolate: warm and familiar, unassuming, but with a hidden kick.

rating: 🍵🍵🍵🍵🍵