October evening post...

It’s late afternoon/early evening on this first Sunday of October, and it was a beautiful, warm-ish sunny day that is turning into a twilight filled with golden sunlight and the rippling shadows of the leaves in the breeze.  We’ve been so fortunate with our weather here in Waterloo Region so far, particularly if you consider other areas in Canada, the US and around the world.  But I feel like this weekend most likely marks the end of the real “summer-like” weather we’ve had, what I consider “shorts and t-shirts” weather.  That’s fine, as I’ve been ready for fall for a few weeks now and can’t wait for the cooler days and chilly evenings. 

My Volunteer book club met yesterday to discuss Robertson Davies’ classic, Fifth Business, the first book in “The Deptford Trilogy”, and it was a huge success!  We’ve actually read it in this book club before, in June 2014, but since most of my members joined post-2014, it was new for nearly everyone, at least as a book club selection.  Several people have read it before on their own, and one member was with me in 2014, but it was still an excellent book to discuss.  This book begins on a snowy evening in 1908 in the small fictional town of Deptford, when our narrator, nearly-twelve-year old Dunstable Ramsay, is engaging in a snowball fight with his friend/enemy Percy Boyd Staunton.  While he is racing home for dinner, in order to dodge the last snowball thrown by Percy, Dunstable darts in front of the figure of the heavily pregnant wife of the Baptist parson, Mary Dempster, who is hit, falls to the ground and is helped home by her husband, only to later go into premature labour and give birth the their son Paul, who is in need of special care round-the-clock to keep him alive.  Mrs Ramsay, a firm Scots woman, steps in and takes charge of the little one and helps Mary recover as well, although she never really does recover fully and is considered “simple” by the ladies in the town from this point forward.  Dunstable feels tremendous guilt for this, because, although he didn’t actually throw the snowball, if he hadn’t stepped in front of Mrs Dempster, she would never have been hit.  He thus takes it upon himself to care for her throughout his life inasmuch as he is able, while Percy and Paul remove themselves from Deptford altogether.  All three, Dunstable, Paul and Percy, are “twice born” (you’ll have to read the book to find out what that means), and their lives crisscross and intersect at sometimes interesting, sometimes highly unusual moments, until the final satisfying conclusion to this wondrous, psychological, mythical, spiritual, saintly, literary mystery… except that there’s more to explore in the other two books in the trilogy, The Manticore and World of Wonders.  Everyone loved it.  They loved the language and the characters, and they loved following these characters in their individual development as well and their ever-changing relationships with one another throughout the story.  Even the secondary characters, such as Leola and Ignacios Blazon and Diana, were fascinating, and we could have discussed for a whole afternoon and still not finished with everything there is to be said and discussed about this book.  We loved the deviousness and manipulative nature of the characters, and talked about the ways in which they recreated their histories to suit their purposes.  One member who listened to this as an audiobook said that at first she thought, "oh no, it's such a slow story", but ended up deciding that, while it was in fact a slow story, it was a good story. Several members said they wanted to read the other books in the trilogy, and I recommended that they do so.  In fact, I would highly recommend any of the books in “The Salterton Trilogy”, “The Deptford Trilogy” and maybe even “The Cornish Trilogy”, although my recollection of that one is not as strong as the other two.  If you have never read anything by this Canadian literary icon, you should run, not walk, to your nearest library to check out a copy of Fifth Business today! 

That’s all for now.  Take care and read on!

Bye for now... Julie

Super-quick post for a Satrday night...

I haven’t posted in a while, but it’s been very busy and there’s been no time.  It’s nearly 9pm on a Saturday night and I’m just finishing off a cup of homemade butternut squash soup as my very late supper, but I wanted to get this written before I got too busy tomorrow and ran out of time.  I’ve read and listened to a few books since my last post. 

The first is an audiobook that I finished, Chris Hadfield’s The Apollo Murders.  Set in the mid-1970s, this book explores the Apollo 18 Mission to the moon, which was supposed to be an exploratory mission. But this mission is plagued with unexpected, sometimes deadly, occurrences. When Russian activity is detected, the agenda changes and the astronauts are expected to follow the new directives.  Before they even leave earth, a tragedy strikes and plans must again change, and once they reach the first destination of their journey, there is yet another unexpected development and the astronauts must work to stay on top of these events and complete as much of their mission as possible while keeping the crew safe from outer space… and each other.  This was a real page-turner, a plot-driven book that also contained a lot of scientific and astronomy facts, a “Canadian Tire” book with a scientific twist! 

The next book I want to tell you about is one that I received as a Christmas gift more than a year ago, but never found time to read until a couple of weeks ago.  Set in the US in the near future, The Future by Naomi Alderman asks the question:  what would you do if you knew the world was going to end and you had access to a “golden ticket”, a way to save yourself, but you can’t bring anyone with you and you can’t choose the company you’ll keep?  This post-apocalyptic novel explores what three high-tech giants are planning to do when they receive notification that the end of the world is likely to occur very soon.  There’s also a few wild cards in the mix, the loyal PA of one tech giant and a reporter who appears to be the target of someone out to get her for some undefined reason.  This was also a roller-coaster ride of a novel, a bleak look at what could happen to our world if we don’t do something drastic right now that was incredibly dismal, but very well-written, with an ending that made the read worthwhile even though I wanted to cry while reading about some of these very grim yet very real scenarios. 

And I just finished reading a new standalone novel by Kelley Armstrong (written under the pseudonym K L Armstrong) which was also a page-turner.  Known to the Victim is told from the point of view of Amy Gibson, a woman in her mid-twenties who is working on her PhD while recording sessions for her moderately successful podcast “Known to the Victim”, which explores murders committed against women by their partners.  She knows more than most about this subject, as her mother was murdered by a man she was dating nearly a decade earlier.  Amy managed to get through that experience with the help of her half-brother Oliver, but when someone at one of her appearances suggests that he is not as wonderful as he may seem, Amy can’t bury her head in the sand and ignore it.  While digging into Oliver’s past, events spiral out of control and Amy must search for the truth while keeping herself and those she cares about safe, a task made more difficult when she’s not sure who she can trust.  This was an excellent book, with the voice and character of Amy very much resembling Casey Duncan in the “Rockton” series.  I wanted to keep reading until I reached a satisfying conclusion.  Will this be the beginning of a new series for her?  Is there a new “Haven’s Rock” book on the horizon?  Whatever is coming next, I’m sure it’ll be amazing. 

That’s all for tonight.  Sorry for the brief descriptions and commentary for each book, but I’m feeling very tired and my eyes are threatening to close.  Happy Fall!!  The perfect season to pick up a good book!

Bye for now... Julie

Prisoners of the Castle post...

It’s Sunday evening, and I finally have a chance to tell you about the book I finished this weekend.  My book club met yesterday to discuss Prisoners of the Castle by Ben Macintyre, and it was one of the best discussions we’ve ever had.  This book presents details of the prisoners who were held as POWs in the “elite” prison of Colditz Castle between 1940 and 1945, along with their many escape attempts, some successful, others decidedly not.  I’ve always enjoyed Macintyre’s books, which for me have mainly been stories of espionage, spies and double-agents, and at first, this one seemed to not much more than a catalogue of escape attempts, but as the book went on, the prisoners became real as we learned about them, their backgrounds, their many skills before and during their imprisonment, and their relationships and interactions with other prisoners and officials and guards.  These characters, too, became not just two-dimensional stereotypes of German prison officials and guards but real people who had difficult jobs to do during extremely difficult times.  There were eight of us at the meeting, probably the first time we’ve all been able to make it out to a meeting in… maybe a year or more.  We all loved the way that Macintyre was able to infuse so much humour into this anything-but-humourous story, and we were astounded at the way he could take so much information about so many people and historical events and mesh it all together to make one coherent story that flowed seamlessly into an unputdownable book that was both entertaining and educational.  We were beyond impressed with the ingenuity of the prisoners and the various schemes they came up with to try to escape.  We learned so much about this prison and these characters, these people who endured years there as both guards and prisoners, officials and orderlies.  One of my group members was reluctant to read this because she was a young girl in Holland during WWII and she worried that it much be too difficult to read, and others also expressed their initial reluctance to read it due to the seriousness of the topic, but they were all glad they read it, and some are planning to share their books with other family members and friends.  We also talked about some new words that we learned, "escapologist" (one who studies escape techniques) and deutschfeindlich ("German-unfriendly"). All in all, it was a most successful discussion, and I would highly recommend this or any other book by Ben Macintyre if you’re looking for a well-written non-fiction selection. 

Not finished the Chris Hadfield audiobook yet, but over halfway there, so maybe next week… 

That’s all for today.  Take care and keep reading! 

Bye for now…

Julie

A brief "no book" post...

I wanted to start the "new year" off right by posting, even though I don't have much to tell you.  It's Labour Day afternoon at 4pm, and while I've been back to work for a week already, and September has some lovely warm weather, this feels like truly the end of summer.  We did all the things this weekend that you do on the last long weekend of summer, like go to the beach, go to several farmers markets (where I discovered "black garlic"!  tastes sweet, and you can eat it raw right out of the bulb!), did yard work, hung all the beach laundry outside to dry, and took long walks.  What I did not do this weekend is read, but I'm going to do that right after I finish this short post.  Because I was back to work last week, and we have a new cat that is causing our existing cat to feel very territorial, and there was a rally to fight for farmland that I attended on Wednesday, and we went to a very strange movie last night, I'm not very far into the book club selection for Saturday, Prisoners of the Castle:  an epic story of survival and escape from Colditz by Ben MacIntyre.  I'll be able to tell you more about this book next week, as well as hopefully tell you about The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield, which I'm listening to right now.  

That's all for today.  Happy Back to School! and Happy September!  

Bye for now...
Julie

Quick post...

This will not be a very inspired post, since, although it’s been more than a month since I last posted, I’ve read very few books that I can actually tell you about.  I’ve spent most of the past month reading Silver Birch nominee contenders, which I have to keep secret until the nominee list is announced in mid-October.  But now that the selection lists are done, I’m free to read whatever I want until mid-January - WOO HOO!!!. 

I wanted to briefly tell you about two books that I read, one for my August book club meeting and one just for fun.  Simon Sort Of Says by local award-winning YA author (and astrophysicist!!) Erin Bow tells the story of how a boy who is the sole survivor of a random school shooting learns to overcome his PTSD after his family leaves Omaha to live in a small town that is part of the National Quiet Zone (no internet, no tv, no radio), a place where he can be Simon Now instead of Simon Then.  I’ve read this book a couple of times and it was so incredibly impressive both times.  Every word and phrase and humorous moment (there were many, if you can believe it!) were placed precisely where they should be and chosen to convey exactly what the author was trying to say.  I took a chance that my ladies would also enjoy this book, and they did!  And, as an added bonus, the author joined us via Google Meet from BC where she is house-sitting for a friend, and was willing to answer all our questions and listen to our comments.  She was quite happy to do this, too, I think, since she usually speaks to grades 6 and 7 students - this was her first seniors’ group!  It was awesome, and one of my members thanked the author for writing it and also thanked me for choosing it for our list, as she would never have read it otherwise, which made my day. 

The other book I read is also by a Canadian author, Susan Juby, who lives in BC and who has written mainly for a YA audience until recently.  I read Mindful of Murder last year and loved it, so I was thrilled to discover that there was a second book in the “Helen Thorpe” series, A Meditation on Murder.  Helen Thorpe is a former Buddhist nun, professional butler and reluctant amateur sleuth.  In her second mystery, she must learn if the deaths of several of her new client’s friends are connected, and if so, whether her client could be next.  I found this book unputdownable, and reached the final satisfying conclusion far too quickly.  I especially enjoy the way Juby drops in Buddhist teachings throughout the story, but not in a jarring way, just as a natural part of the story.  While I think I enjoyed the first book slightly more than this one, I would still highly recommend it, and I was thrilled to learn that there is to be a third book in this series - HURRAY!!  At that discovery, I identified my feelings as pleasant, pleasant. 

That’s all for today.  I hope to be back to my routine again by next week.  Until then, stay cool and keep reading!

Bye for now... Julie

Quick post on a perfect summer morning...

The birds are singing, the sun is shining, it’s not too hot or windy… I couldn’t have asked for a better summer morning!  I’ve got just a short time to write this post, as I’m going away this weekend and am heading to the airport in just over an hour, but I wanted to tell you about a real page-turner that I finished last night. 

After two weeks of reading, reading, reading Silver Birch books, I just needed to dive headlong into an adult book, preferably a mystery, so I headed to my shelves and found a book I don’t remember purchasing (maybe it was from the big CFUW book sale in April), The Woman Outside my Door, a debut novel by Irish author Rachel Ryan.  This novel tells the story of Georgina, Bren and their seven-year-old son Cody, an ordinary family living an uneventful life in Dublin until Cody comes home from the park one day with a lollipop.  When Georgina asks where he got it, he tells her that his “new granny” gave it to him, which shocks her because both Cody’s grandmothers are dead.  Bren explains this away by claiming that “new granny” is probably an imaginary friend that Cody made up to deal with the recent loss of Georgina’s mother, an explanation she reluctantly accepts.  But when strange things keep happening, Georgina’s suspicions grow, despite Bren’s rationalizations.  Is she right to suspect that something strange is going on, or is she just being paranoid?  And if Cody is in danger, will she be able to figure out what’s going on in time to save him?  This was an absolute page-turner, which I read in one day while waiting for the Rogers tech to come and set up our new system, as well as during the many, many, many hours I waited on hold with other Rogers customer service people as they tried to figure out a way to make it work, which was incredibly frustrating. But on the bright side, it provided lots and lots of reading time!  Once again, a good book cheered me up and saved the day from being a complete write-off!!  Anyway, if you’re looking for a good mystery/thriller that features an unreliable narrator, and if you’re planning to call Rogers (or Bell, or your bank, or Service Canada!), this might be a good choice for you!

Bye for now... Julie

It’s been a month since my last post, and that’s due to a combination of factors.  It’s been super-busy with the end of school prep, so more busy on the weekends and less time to read.  I’ve also been reading Silver Birch contenders, which I can’t write about.  I’ve been in a rut for adult books and audiobooks, too, so that was quite a frustrating waste of time.  But the main reason I haven’t posted is because of my cat, Riley, who comes and lays on my lap whenever I sit down.  Well, I can’t very well have him on my lap and type a post, can I?  I blame it all on Riley - he just got up to have something to eat, so I’ll have to make this a quick post! 

The first two weeks of June I spent reading Silver Birch books, then for the next two weeks I tried and failed to get into a few adult fiction titles from home and from the library.  I hate wasting valuable reading time, so on a Friday afternoon that I had off work, I wandered into my favourite used bookstore end ended up buying Less by Andrew Sean Greer, a light, comedic novel about Arthur Less, a failed American writer who, as his fiftieth birthday approaches, receives an invitation to his ex-boyfriend’s wedding.  Unable to decline but also refusing to attend, Less agrees to speak at all the various awards ceremonies he’s invited to and accepts the invitation to teach a creative writing course, all in various parts of the world, making him “unavailable" to attend the wedding.  These romps around the world, including Japan, Germany, Italy, Morocco and India, lead Less to personal discoveries as his birthday nears, arrives and passes.  This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was not, as the cover boasts, “hilarious”, but it was light reading that still had enough substance to keep me reading until the last page.  There’s a sequel, Less is Lost, but I won’t be reading that - Less was good, but in this case, Less was also enough. 

And I just had a book club meeting this morning to discuss Michelle Good’s Governor General Award-winning novel and CBC Canada Reads winner, Five Little Indians. This novel follows five young people after their release from a residential school in BC in the 1960s until they are older adults several decades later.  Having been brutally ripped away and kept separated from their families, each of these children experienced physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of the nuns and priest at their school.  In their mid- to late teens, they were then thrust into the world with nothing but a bus ticket to downtown Vancouver, no money, skills or experiences to help them get on with their lives.  Each young adult copes in a different way, from drinking and drugs to running away to lashing out, but they manage to maintain connections that (mostly) help see them through the worst times.  No one was looking forward to reading this, probably because the last book we read by an Indigenous writer, The Break by Katherena Vermette, was so difficult to read and so utterly depressing, so it was wonderful to hear that everyone loved it.  We all loved the characters, and while they all suffered trauma and developed coping strategies that may not have been the healthiest of choices, we felt for all of them and agreed that there was quite a lot of hope in this book.  It was definitely a great book club choice and I’d recommend it to anyone.

Oh, Riley's back so that’s all for today.  Happy Summer, everyone!  Stay cool and don’t forget to read!

Bye for now... Julie