Simon & Schuster Canada’s Blog

The debut novel The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen hits bookstores today…..and it’s already been endorsed by bestselling author Jennifer Weiner!

Weiner took to her blog last week to inform her fans about this book and encourage them to pre-order their copy online. In return they’d receive a signed copy of one of her books AND the chance to win some fantastic raffle prizes on Sarah’s website. Jennifer is all too familiar with the fact that debut authors often struggle to get their books into the hands of readers because of such vast competition in the marketplace and wanted to help boost Sarah’s sales. Jen is a big fan and supporter of Sarah, and is quoted on the cover calling the book, “fresh, funny and satisfying. A terrific book about sisters that actually made me laugh out loud.” 

A little bit about the book….

Twenty-nine-year-old Lindsey Rose has, for as long as she can remember, lived in the shadow of her ravishingly beautiful fraternal twin sister, Alex. Determined to get noticed, Lindsey is finally on the cusp of being named VP creative director of an elite New York advertising agency, after years of eighty-plus-hour weeks, migraines, and profound loneliness. But during the course of one devastating night, Lindsey’s carefully constructed life implodes. Humiliated, she flees the glitter of Manhattan and retreats to the time warp of her parents’ Maryland home. As her sister plans her lavish wedding to her Prince Charming, Lindsey struggles to maintain her identity as the smart, responsible twin while she furtively tries to piece her career back together. But things get more complicated when a long-held family secret is unleashed that forces both sisters to reconsider who they are and who they are meant to be.

The themes dealt with in this book are relevant and applicable to many women in their twenties and thirties. This is a smart, funny and poignant debut novel about the desire to have it all, the relationships that define you, and the complicated, irreplaceable bonds of sisterhood.

If you enjoy reading Jennifer Weiner, Lauren Weisberger and Sophie Kinsella then this is the book for you!

Read a chapter excerpt

Click here for book club resources

Visit Sarah’s website www.sarahpekkanen.com

For starters, it’s probably important that I tell you I’ve been on a philosophy binge over the last few months, and as someone who used to wrinkle her nose and roll her eyes at her classmates who piped up saying “I was reading (insert philosopher) last night…”, I’m surprised at how much I’ve been enjoying  it.

Breakfast with Socrates is a short, sweet, and incredibly fun read. It avoids falling into the school of academic egg headedness that in my mind so much philosophy does, and instead is a lighthearted and interesting examination of the way we structure our days the way we do, and why we should stop taking simple things for granted – like waking up, for instance.  

I’m the kind of person who sticks to a pretty ridged schedule in the morning:

6:00 am – Alarm goes off
6:15 am – Secondary emergency alarm goes off
6:15 – 6:30 – Requisite morning snooze button battle

Etc, etc.

This morning I woke up at 7:45, so you can imagine the wrench that was thrown into my morning routine: no hand ground coffee beans, no French pressed deliciousness, and certainly no time for breakfast.

Essentially, Breakfast with Socrates, takes you for a stroll in your own shoes. It asks you what you’re doing, and then offers insights as to why you’ve chosen to do things in that specific way. This morning when I was running around frantically trying to get ready I couldn’t help but think back to what I had been reading the night before, and in doing so my morning routine was no longer a simple repetitive act, but rather a carefully conceived dialogue between myself and the world around me.

I’m willing to bet that the reason I enjoyed this book so much, is first off because it excuses my obsessive compulsive morning behaviors, but secondly and probably more importantly, because it adds color to mundane everyday activities, like say, the dreaded TTC riddled morning commute.

If you’re a commuter, you definitely need to read this book, because it will make riding local transit seem like less “of a spiritual drudgery” and more of an adventure. And wouldn’t it be a whole lot easier to wake up at the crack of dawn each morning if you felt like you were about to embark on something really exciting?

For more information on Breakfast With Socrates visit our website.

Available now in fine bookstores everywhere!

On March 27 at 8:30 pm, hundreds of millions of people around the world will turn off their lights for an hour to demand action on climate change. But that’s just the beginning. Every hour, Canadians are taking small steps to lessen their impact on the environment. What will you do? Get involved and pledge here