Carina van Heyst
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time4reading.bsky.social
Carina van Heyst
@time4reading.bsky.social
1K followers 330 following 320 posts
she/her…retired educator in Toronto, Canada
Books, nature, Raptors, knitting…
I write about books on IG at the same handle with a focus on literary fiction, translated fiction, book prizes, CanLit, and nature non-fiction.
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time4reading.bsky.social
Currently reading and loving: The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje (trans. David McKay). Love the way Daanje blends and layers dreams and memories and the “present” (of the book) in a flowing present tense narration. #booksky @newvesselpress.bsky.social
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.
November 21, 2025 at 3:31 AM
time4reading.bsky.social
Obligatory pumpkin design here in Toronto (excellent freehand copying by my husband) #gojaysgo
A Halloween pumpkin with the Toronto Blue Jays logo carved into it sits on some wilting green plants. It is glowing slightly from within.
October 31, 2025 at 11:08 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
Over on IG, I wrote about Miriam Toews’s memoir A Truce That Is Not Peace.

[Thanks Knopf Canada for the gifted copy.]

www.instagram.com/p/DP6tPjUkbM...
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.
October 17, 2025 at 4:56 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
Currently devouring this memorable entry in the Canadian literary canon (first published in 1976).

Figured this sign at Macgregor Point Provincial Park made a good backdrop.

#booksky #kanataclassics
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.
September 25, 2025 at 3:40 AM
time4reading.bsky.social
I love it so much.
Lake Scugog, Ontario, Canada, 10:08 pm (iPhone 13 mini)

Is #aurorasky a thing?

#onwx #aurora #northernlights
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.
September 15, 2025 at 2:35 AM
time4reading.bsky.social
Ecstatic to receive this today. I am obsessed. Thanks @pgcbooks.bsky.social !
#booksky
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.
July 3, 2025 at 9:43 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
This week I devoured Ella Frear’s brilliant Goodlord, a 100-page email rant about the predatory practices of rental agencies, arts organizations, and men, especially men. I wrote about it over on the ‘gram. #booksky

www.instagram.com/p/DLKvRc1Aam...
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.
June 21, 2025 at 3:39 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
I’ve been checking off @thebookerprizes winners. I finished Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, The Sea a few days ago, I’m close to finishing Alan Hollinghurst’s
The Line of Beauty, and I’ve just started Richard Flanagan’s Narrow Road to the Deep North.
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”.
June 21, 2025 at 3:19 AM
time4reading.bsky.social
Currently reading two Booker winners—Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty (2004) and Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, The Sea (1978)—and my biggest problem is that I never want to put one down to pick up the other. And then, I don’t want to put that one down to return to the first one.
#booksky
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.
June 10, 2025 at 4:13 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
Let’s check in and see how those numbers are doing now

Well done, Bluesky
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
June 7, 2025 at 2:36 AM
time4reading.bsky.social
It’s nice to see a good ‘ol ratio over here on Bluesky. Forgot how much I’d missed it

Maybe hire a real person called Brendan instead
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!)
June 6, 2025 at 6:48 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
Yeah, that’s not great
June 6, 2025 at 5:33 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
Visited @walbatrossbookshop.bsky.social in Prince Edward County today and it was a tiny perfect gem of of a bookshop. A wonderfully curated collection of fiction (esp translated, Canadian, indigenous, global) and great nature, travel, and geography non-fiction (and more).
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. Two bookshelves of brightly coloured books. At the top of the shelves it says “Fiction”. Some of the titles include: We Could Be Rats, What I Know About You, Once a Monster, Sokcho, Punished, The Golden Cockerel. A bookshelf of books about nature and walking. Book titles include A Philosophy of Walking, Gone Bush, The Old Ways, Where the Wild Winds Are, Between Britain. Two books sit on someone’s lap. On top is a green book with images of leaves and the title Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau. The author is Ben Ahattuck but his name is partly cut off in the photo. Underneath is a blue book with a photo of a woman on the cover. Parts of her face are obscured with oddly shaped blobs of pink and red. The book is The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa.
May 25, 2025 at 1:08 AM
time4reading.bsky.social
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.”
May 15, 2025 at 1:50 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
Just finished this slim volume from the International Booker Prizes shortlist and, wow, it’s so good. A powerful, nuanced look at the migrant crisis.
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.
May 13, 2025 at 1:18 AM
time4reading.bsky.social
Is there a #skysky tag?
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.
May 7, 2025 at 4:42 AM
time4reading.bsky.social
This discussion caught my eye this morning so I’m listening to the episode now! I host a big book challenge on IG. Here are a bunch of the big books by women authors that I’ve enjoyed (missing: Lydia Sandgren’s Collected Works Eliot’s Middlemarch and Mill on the Floss).
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
May 4, 2025 at 2:14 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
Also… I need to share what the ALT text said before I rewrote it
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?????
April 28, 2025 at 11:05 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
A good read for Election Day….

#booksky #canadasky
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.
April 28, 2025 at 8:47 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
Currently reading my third book in my #yearofcusk , the second book in the Outline trilogy.

“…whatever we might wish to believe about ourselves, we are only the result of how others have treated us.”

- Transit, Rachel Cusk

#booksky
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.
April 25, 2025 at 10:55 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
When it turned out I’d already read 4/6 of the books on @dublinlitaward.bsky.social shortlist, I decided to complete it. I finished 🇨🇦 Michael Crummey’s The Adversary last night so I am now done!
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
April 25, 2025 at 10:13 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
On “doublethink”:

“…a loyal willingness to say that black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the ability to believe that black is white, and more, to know that black is white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary.”

— 1984, George Orwell
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.
March 25, 2025 at 7:17 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
“It is for the possession of these thickly-populated regions, and of the northern ice-cap, that the three powers are constantly struggling.”
— 1984, George Orwell
#booksky
#canpoli
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.
March 24, 2025 at 5:05 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
“Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure forgotten, the lie became the truth.”
— 1984, George Orwell

#booksky
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.
March 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
time4reading.bsky.social
Decided it was time to reread 1984. Husband walked by and said, “oh, you’re reading non-fiction”

#booksky
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
March 13, 2025 at 5:42 PM