Carina van Heyst

@time4reading.bsky.social

1126 Followers 372 Following

she/her…retired educator in Toronto, Canada Books, nature, Raptors, knitting… I write about books at www.instagram.com/time4reading with a focus on literary fiction, translated fiction, book prizes, CanLit, and nature non-fiction.

A collage of the covers of 13 books that I am predicting will make the Booker longlist. The books are: Top row: Son of Nobody by Yann Martel Life of M by Rachel Cusk Uprising by Tahmima Anam John of John by Douglas Stuart RABBITBOX by Wayne Holloway-Smith A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia Bottom row: This is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli The Disappearers by Marlon James Gloria Don’t Speak by Lucy Apps Transcription by Ben Lerner Code Noir by Canisia Lubrin Land by Maggie O’Farrell
A view down a rural road. Green leaves and grass. A blue sky with just a few wispy clouds.
A white hand holds a book in front of a lake. The book is The Disappearing Act by Maria Stepanova (translated by Sasha Dugdale). The book is beige with an illustration of a circus “big top” tent and what looks like a train track leading up to its entrance. All the text is in handwriting.
A white hand holds up the book John of John by Douglas Stuart in front of a sky with clouds coloured orange by the setting sun. The book cover has white text on a background photo of similar-looking clouds.
A half-knit short sock still on needles and two balls of yarn sit on a grey couch. The sock is mostly light blue with a burgundy cuff and decorative burgundy stripes.
A white hand holds two balls of yarn, one light blue and one burgundy.
A white hand holds a copy of the book Every Time We Say Goodbye by Ivana Sajko in front of a lake. The book cover has the photo of the back of someone’s head with a white splotch on top of the photo.
A fuzzy picture of interviewer Jessica Allen and author Yann Martel seated on a low raised stage with wood paneling behind them.
A white hand holds an ereader above a wooden floor. On the ereader is the cover of the book Transcription by Ben Lerner. The cover image shows a rock that’s the shape of a cell phone. The rock has cracks and the impression of fingerprints where you would hold it if it were a phone.
A white hand holds a beige book with a drawing of what looks like a railway going into a circus tent. The title and author are in a handwriting script. The book is The Disappearing Act by Maria Stepanova (translated by Sash Dugdale).
A black poodly-looking dog sits as far away from a giant white sculpture of a cartoon groundhog as his leash will permit. The groundhog has a dapper bow tie. Behind are grass, benches, and water with lots of geese.
A close up of the door area of the Riverdale library branch. The building is semi-round with a stone railing above the door and stone trim and accents and red brick.
A tracker for the 2026 International Booker showing covers of the 13 longlisted books and the title “What I’ve Read”. Green checkmarks are on the books We Are Green and Trembling, The Remembered Solider, The Director, and The Wax Child indicated that I have read these ones. The remaining books are: The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran The Deserters Small Comfort She Who Remains On Earth As It Is Beneath The Duke The Witch Women Without Men Taiwan Travelogue
A graphic of 13 book covers on a white background. Title: International Booker Prediction/Wish List Books pictured: Top row: Venice Requiem, Khalid Lyamlahy (trans. Ros Schwartz) The Remembered Soldier, Anne Daanje (trans. David McKay) Double Room, Anne Sénès (trans. Alice Banks) The Place of Shells, Mai Ishizawa (trans. Polly Barton) Middle row: Sakina’s Kiss, Vivek Shanbhag (trans. Srinath Perur) Bloody Awful in Different Ways, Andrev Walden (trans. Ian Giles) The Deserters, Mathias Énard (trans. Charlotte Mandell)  The Director, Daniel Kehlmann (trans. Ross Benjamin) Imagine Breaking Everything, Alina Munar Guerva (trans. Ellen Jones) OR She Who Remains Bottom row: I Gave You Eyes and You Looked Towards Darkness, Irene Solà (trans. Mara Faye Lethem) Electric Shamans at the Festival of the Sun, Mónica Ojeda (trans. Sarah Booker) The Disappearing Act, Maria Stepanova (trans. Sasha Dugdale) Death and the Gardener, Georgi Gospodinov (trans. Angela Rodel)
A white hand holds a stack of books in front of a snowy yard. The books are: - On the Calculation of Volume, Book 3 by Solvej Balle (trans. Sophia Hersi Smith & Jennifer Russell) - The Wax Child by Olga Ravn (trans. Martin Aitken) - Death and the Gardener by Georgi Gospodinov (trans. Angela Rodel) - The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje (trans. David McKay)
A map of North America showing the current range of the Gray Wolf; the vast majority of Gray Wolves are in Canada. It also shows the historical range which was most of the US except the west coast and the southeastern quadrant of the country.
A black poodly looking dog in his humiliating winter outfit of the day: black suspender boots, a black coat, a grey knit hat, and a circumspect look on his face. It’s sunny and snowy.
The plow map of Toronto showing streets west of the Don River having been plowed and streets on the east side with no plowing in the past 12 hours
A screenshot from the Province of Canada website. A close up of a white fleece with red trim and the word Canada in red. The text reads: All of our products are 100% made in Canada. Province of Canada We’re releasing The Fleece. Province of Canada x Heated Rivalry Sign-up for Updates
The Riverdale West toboggan hill on March 4, 2023. We’d had a heavy snow the day before but it turned sunny and warm, classic spring skiing weather. There’s blue sky, sunshine and lots of people either sledding down or walking up the hill. On the far side of the hill are some trees and a contemporary building which is Bridgepoint Health Centre and then a few other bigger buildings. Closest to the camera a woman is sledding down the hill wearing a sleeveless top so her arms are bare.
Lots of white snow with a couple of bird feeders sticking out of it and a garage in the background.
Truth Social post by Trump showing him with EU leaders sitting around his desk in the Oval Office. A map on a chart stand shows North America and norther South America. The US, Canada, Greenland, and Venezuela are coloured in with an American flag.
A boardwalk stretches through a marsh. It is fall and much of the plant life is brown. There’s an observation platform coming off on the left hand side. It has a red/orange flag, an interpretive board, and a couple of picnic tables.
Three books sit on top of a weather wooden box that has faded writing on it. The books are Ultramarine by Mariette Navarro, Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese, and Death and the Gardiner by Georgi Gospodinov.
The book Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese sits open face down on someone’s lap. The cover is light blue with white text and has an image of two people on horseback silhouetted against a sunset (or sunrise) sky.
A colourful stack of books in front of a bookshelf. The books are (top to bottom): The Sea, The Sea, Iris Murdoch Small Boat, Vincent Delecroix 1984, George Orwell On the Calculation of Volume, Books 1, 2, and 3, Solvej Balle Fingersmith, Sarah Waters A Life’s Work, Rachel Cusk The Snag, Tessa McWatt Audition, Katie Kitamura The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst
A common Canadian meme evoking regular tv spots which used to show dramatizations of important moments in Canadian history. They would begin and end in this photo of a lake at sunset with the words Canadian Heritage Minutes at the top. At the bottom of the main photo a Canadian flag, the words Canadian Heritage/Patrimoine Canadien and the Canadian government logo. In the middle would be where the video for the specific moment would appear. In this case, it shows a red rectangle with the title 60 Minutes and an image of a stop watch.
The book The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje (translated by David McKay) sits on a rock. An evergreen shrub is to the left. The book is olive green and has an image of a hand reaching down to grasp the shape of a hand reaching up. In the reaching up hand is a photo of a World War 1 soldier carrying a camera.
The book The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje sits on someone’s lap. The book is olive green with white text and a black and white photo of a First World War soldier holding a camera or some kind of viewing device (I’m not sure). A black and white coffee mug that says “I’m library people” is being held above the book.
A Halloween pumpkin with the Toronto Blue Jays logo carved into it sits on some wilting green plants. It is glowing slightly from within.
A white hand holds the book A Truce That Is Not Peace by Miriam Toews in front of an overturned aluminum boat on green grass. The book has an illustration of an empty boat floating on purple water in front of a pink setting sun and orange sky.
A white hand holds the book Bear by Marian Engel in front of a sign that says “Caution Active Bear in Park.” The book is mauve with a close up painting of a bear’s face in a circle. The sign is white with a red border, red text, and the black silhouette of a walking bear.
The aurora borealis in greens, yellows, and pinks (and maybe even a little purple) lights up the night sky and reflects off of the surface of a lake. The Big Dipper is in the top right corner. There’s a tower with red lights on the right hand side and some grasses on the foreground on the right.
A white hand holds a blue and yellow book above a rock and some green shrubs. The book is an uncorrected proof of On the Calculation of Volume Book 3 by Solvej Balle and translated by Sophia Hersi Smith. The book cover has a multicolored blob in the middle and this is encircled by a white oval which contains the text.
A white hand holds an ereader with the cover of the book Goodlord by Ella Frears in front of a still lake. A green shore is on the distance and clouds are reflected in the water.
A white hand holds the book Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan in front of a lot of green shrubs with white flowers and red berries. The book is blue with a ladder, a pinkish red flower, and a yellow circle that says “Man Booker Prize Winner”.
A white hand holds two books in front of a flowering shrub. The books are Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty and Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, The Sea. Both books have blueish-greenish covers.
The engagement numbers for the Smart Dublin post about AI tour guide Brendan are now showing a truly glorious ratio: 8 reposts 729 quotes 20 likes Replies 1.2K Reposts (incl quotes) 737 Liked 20
A screenshot of the stats on the egregious Smart Dublin AI tour guide skeet: 134 quotes 4 likes And then, with the images for different types of engagement: Replies 289 Reposts 134 Likes 4 (lol…..4!)
The outside of a building which is dark blue below and light blue above. In front is a fence that has a sign for The Wandering Albatross Books in Bloomfield, Ontario. There is a black and white drawing of an albatross (which looks like a super-sized gull) in the middle.
A Far Side cartoon shows a man standing on the sidewalk in front of a house looking at a sign on the gate that says “Beware of Doug”. The man is wearing a hat and carrying a briefcase that says “Acme Sales Co”. In the yard in front of the house is a man trying (but failing) to hide behind a tree. He is peeking around the tree which is not as wide as he is. We assume this is the aforementioned “Doug.”
The book Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix sits on a couch with a bookmark, a striped journal, and a pen. There is a dog’s tail in the background. The book cover is an overhead illustration of an small empty rubber dinghy in a wide blue sea. If you zoom in, it becomes evident that the “sea” is actually made up of hundreds of silhouettes of people. The title is in white block text at the bottom of the cover. At the top right corner is the Booker Prize logo.
A post sunset sky of oranges, yellows, and purple is reflected in a flat calm lake. A tree and shrub with no leaves in the foreground.
Two stacks of big books sit on a carpeted staircase. Left stack from top: Praiseworthy, Alexis Wright Tenderness, Alison MacLeod A System So Magnificent it is Blinding, Amanda Svensson The Books of Jacob, Olga Tokarczuk The Eighth Life, Nino Haratischvili Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke Right stack from top: Tomb of Sand, Geetanjali Shree Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton Barkskins, Annie Proulx
The same photo as above showing the window in which you can edit the alt text. The alt text provided says: “a man in a green shirt is blowing his nose with a paper bag”. What?????
A white hand holds the book Canada Alone: Navigating the Post-American World by Kim Richard Nossal. The cover is white with the main title in large red letters. A beaver appears to have walked by; only its back end is visible on the right side of the cover as it walks off. In the background behind the book are rocks, evergreen shrubs, and some dead leaves.
A white hand holds a copy of the book Transit by Rachel Cusk. A beige fence is in the background with leafless vines climbing up it. The book has a white cover with black text. In the middle of the cover is a photo of a white hand in front of some kind of water in the background (a lake maybe?). A praying mantis is sitting on top of the hand and it has been covered with a clear plastic disposable cup.
A blue info graphic of the 2025 Dublin Literary Award shortlist. At the top left it says “Celebrating 30 years of excellence in world literature” and in the top right it says “Dublin Literary Award 2025”. The text in the middle says “Discover this year’s shortlist” and this is surrounded by the covers of six books: James by Percival Everett Not a River by Selva Almada Prophet Song by Paul Lynch We Are Light by Gerda Blees North Woods by Daniel Mason The Adversary by Michael Crummey
A red, white, and black copy of George Orwell’s 1984 sits on a grey background. A surveillance camera and pair of eyes stare back at you from the cover.
A red black and white copy of 1984 by George Orwell sits on a grey couch next to the head of a sleeping dog with dark grey curly fur. The book cover features a pair of intently staring eyes and a surveillance camera pointed at you.
A red, black, and white book sits on a grey couch the the legs of a black curly-haired dog in the background. The book is 1984 by George Orwell. The cover features images of a surveillance camera and an intense pair of eyes staring back at you.
A white hand holds a copy of 1984 by George Orwell. It is red, black and white with eyes staring at you from above the title and a camera pointed at you from below it
The book On a Woman’s Madness by Astrid Roemer and translated by Lucy Scott sits on a dark grey couch. The book has a dark cover with a black and white photo of a woman’s face. She has her eyes closed and looks to be in some pain. A bookmark is sticking out of the top of the book. The text on the book is red. Next to the book is a white mug with frothed milk inside. On the mug it says “I’m library people” in black text.
Screenshot of a post from that “other site” from PM Justin Trudeau: “You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game.”
A white hand holds a white mug with the words “I’m library people” on it in black. Below it is the book Herscht 07769 by László Krasznahorkai and translated by Ottilie Muzlet. The book is black and white with what looks like a big blob of red spray paint.
A screenshot of Peter Baker’s post sharing his insulting sane-washing NYT article “Canada as the 51st State? In electoral terms, Trump’s Idea Favors Democrats”. Includes a photo of an enormous Canadian flag being carried by skaters on the frozen Rideau Canal in Ottawa.
A screen shot of text which says: “A winter weather travel advisory has been issued for the City of Toronto. Environment Canada says four to eight centimetres of snow is expected overnight and into Tuesday.”
A hand wearing a black mitten holds a book in front of a blue sky and a snowy frozen lake. The book is Punished by Ann-Helén Laestadius (translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles). On the book cover is a picture of a gákti, a traditional top worn by Sámi. It is blue with red and yellow trim and the picture shows tabs attached to it as though it were for a paper doll.
A collage of five photos, four of which show books, and one a woman: Top left: a white hand holds A Life’s Work by Rachel Cusk in front of a snow- and ice-covered lake and sunny blue sky. The book has a white border, black text, and a photo of a chain link fence with a yellow leaf stuck in it in front of a blue sky. Top right: a white hand holds an ereader in front of a snowy landscape with the silhouettes of leafless trees. The book is We Do Not Part by Han Kang and it also shows silhouetted trees on the cover. Bottom left: a hand wearing a black kitten holds the book Punished by Ann-Helén Laestadius in front of the same lake as in the first photo. The book is white with a Samí blue gákti (traditional top) with tabs like the clothes for paper dolls. Bottom middle: an iPad sits on a stand on dock in summertime. Behind is water and the opposite shore. The iPad shows the cover of The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese with white text on top of a blue green and red painting of palm trees. Bottom right: a white woman stands on the same snowy lake facing three quarters away from the camera. She is wearing a blue Icelandic sweater with a white, rust and orange yoke design and a blue, purple, and pink knitted hat.