• Lattes with Ladies: Jessica Rodriguez!

    Lattes with Ladies: Jessica Rodriguez!

    This is an interview that I originally did back in December and it was another first for this blog. I interviewed Jessica Rodriguez, a really cool lady, and someone I technically met for the very first time.  Jessica is a writer, marketer, and volunteer for Lean In Canada, where she blogs and runs a book…

  • The Witches of New York by Ami McKay

    The Witches of New York by Ami McKay

    I got Ami McKay’s latest book, The Witches of New York, in a swag bag from a special sale at Joe Fresh on Queen St. This is a rare book for this blog – one that I didn’t choose for myself nor was it recommended to me by a close friend. By coincidence, it also turned…

  • Lattes with Ladies: Jessie Ho!

    Lattes with Ladies: Jessie Ho!

    It’s my first international Lattes with Ladies featuring the intrepid Jessie Ho! Jessie is a writer, aspiring creative, fashion fiend, media addict, would-be social entrepreneur, and my old roommate from university. In between catching up over Skype, we talked about our reading lives in a post-grad world and the challenges of finding books in Hong…

  • There’s just something about Bathsheba – a feminist icon for today

    There’s just something about Bathsheba – a feminist icon for today

    I first read Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd about two years ago and loved it, so when I saw the title appear on Netflix I knew I would have to write about it! Bathsheba, Hardy’s protagonist has been one of my favourite feminist icons in literature, and with the Women’s March on Washington  just last…

  • Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien

    Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien

    Do Not Say We Have Nothing is a critically acclaimed new novel from Madeleine Thien. Winner of the Giller Prize and Governor General’s Award as well as shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and longlisted for an Andrew Carnegie Medal, it is effectively the book of 2016. I can’t believe I actually read it before…

  • And so we begin at the beginning! 2017

    And so we begin at the beginning! 2017

    And we’re off! Welcome back to the new and improved Hot Pepper Latte. It was time for an upgrade and at the beginning of a new year it felt like what better time to do so? For those of you who have been with me the last few years you will find more of the…

  • I’m taking a coffee break!

    I’m taking a coffee break!

    I’m going on hiatus! Over the next few weeks I will be taking some time off from posting. It’s been a little over 3 years since Hot Pepper Latte was but a twinkle in my eye. At that time, my vision for this blog was a personal project to practice writing and track my reading. As…

  • Lattes with Ladies: Lenore Ramirez

    Lattes with Ladies: Lenore Ramirez

    This week I chat with one of my nearest and dearest, Lenore Ramirez: designer, artist, food lover, and A+ friend about her deep love of graphic novels. HPL: So fam, what have you been reading lately? LR: I’ve actually been reading a lot of things. I’ve been reading In Progress by Jessica Hische. I’ve also been…

  • A Brief History of Seven Killings by James Marlon

    A Brief History of Seven Killings by James Marlon

    Marlon James’ A Brief History of Seven Killings opens with a Jamaican proverb: “If it no go so, it go near so.” As a fictional account of very real events, it’s hard to think of a more fitting phrase. I’d been meaning to read A Brief History for many months. A year, in fact, as a…

  • Best Bookish Gifts in Toronto

    Best Bookish Gifts in Toronto

    Shopping for the perfect gift for a reader? Want something unique and truly Canadian? I know I do! I love looking through holiday look books but I’ve always thought that there isn’t enough of a spotlight on Canadian gifts. Not to mention the added shipping fees and waiting of ordering in from the U.S. or…

  • Uncovering the mystery of The Monkey’s Paw

    Uncovering the mystery of The Monkey’s Paw

      I set out on a Sunday when the TTC closed the Bloor line (of course) to visit The Monkey’s Paw at its new west-end location. Infamous for being a shop of curios and The Biblio-Mat machine,which spits out odd and old books for just a toonie, I’ve always been curious about it! Like a…

  • Lattes with Ladies: Sara Kannan!

    Lattes with Ladies: Sara Kannan!

    This week I Skyped my friend and former classmate Sara Kannan to talk about postcolonialism, urban fantasy, teen fiction, and books that make you weep for days. HPL: What you reading right now? SK: It’s called The Gold Eaters by Ronald Wright. It’s about the conquest of Peru, and it’s mostly told through the perspective of…

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