What are you reading Mondays is hosted by J. Kaye’s Book Blog

It was a very busy week, reading-wise for me! I finished a remainder,
a top 100 title, two stops on the Atlantic Canada Literary Road Trip, and a library book that I cannot ever remember ordering: Strength Training for Seniors, The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society, Settlement of Memory, Latitudes of Melt, and East of the Mountains.

This week I finished reading :

1. Strength Training for Seniors
Subtitled: How to Rewind Your Biological Clock

I happen to come upon this book at a clearance sale – and it is EXACTLY what I need right now.

The author begins with an explanation of what “strength” is and why it benefits the body more than any other type of exercise, although endurance, flexibility, coordination and balance are all necessary. He then discusses, with the aid of line drawings, the muscular-skeletal system, and the basic movements of the muscles.

There is more than sufficient information here to help the reader develop a personalized training program with specific exercises.

I recommend this book for anyone over the age of fifty considering an exercise program. The author speaks intelligently and respectfully to seniors in any state of well-being and addresses the specific issues unique to the older body.

2. A Settlement of Memory
A Novel by Gordon Rodgers, borrowed from the library

From Books in Canada: Rodgers has written a complex and compelling narrative using the history of the labour movement in Newfoundland as his historical anchor. William Coaker and the Fishermen’s Protective Union are paralleled by Tom Vincent and his FC Union based in the outports of the coast and islands of Bonavista Bay. Rodgers’ novel is backed by extensive research; which is the skeleton for a consistent and authentic narrative.

It started out strongly, but the pacing was erratic in the last third of the novel. Still, I would recommend it to anyone interested in Newfoundland, especially in its labour history.

This is a stop on the Atlantic Canada Literary Road Trip.

3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

I had high hopes for this book (borrowed from the library) because of its many weeks on the best seller list, because of a family connection to Guernsey, and because I love the “letter” format.

Alas, even though I’m sure it was likely the first time many readers had encountered Guernsey’s WWII occupation by the Nazis (and I applaud most anything that educates), at the core this is a romance. And it is one of those romances where everybody (especially the reader) knows the heroine’s in love, except the heroine. Who can, of course, desert her previous life and live happily ever after with the perfect little family.

So sorry to be crabby, but I don’t like romances. If you do, then read this. It’s one of the better ones, and a history lesson to boot.

4. Latitudes of Melt

This bountiful, magical novel opens with the discovery by two fishermen of a baby floating on an ice pan in the North Atlantic off the coast of Newfoundland in 1912, and becomes a breathtaking family saga that spans almost a century.

Not as far-fetched as this intro might lead you to believe, this book deserves its own review.

I’ll get to to it as soon as possible.

5. East of the Mountains
Sometimes I’ll pick up books that I’ve requested from the library, and find that one of them is a “I’ve never heard of it, can’t remember ordering it, don’t know who recommended it”. This book was one of those.

In mid-October, in the rich pear- and apple-growing region of Washington state…retired heart surgeon Ben Givens learns he has terminal colon cancer.”

So he takes his dogs out for what he plans to be their last hunt – one from which he does not intend to return. Sounded promising, but I gave up after three chapters of interminable description of the country-side. Beautiful, I’m sure, but not of so much interest to justify all those words!

I must be getting harder to please as I get older. I feel a little guilty because I wasted time last week on that Louis L’Amour and, to be fair, this was probably a whole lot better. But I just ran out of time to waste this week. Sorry, David.

I’m currently reading:

1. All You Have To Do Is Be
A very special gift from my sister because Tom Caldwell was our father’s brother.

Uncle Tom was a Baptist minister and, although I don’t agree with some of the doctrines he preached, I find this book to be a densely written and interesting exhortation to BE.

He has suggested, in 26 chapters, qualities that he feels we need to BE fully human BEings. I have read ‘adventurous’, ‘believing’, ‘Christ’s’, ‘disciplined’, ‘enthusiastic’, and ‘forgiving’. I intend to read & digest one chapter each night so this book will show up on my Reading Monday report for a few weeks.

2. The Iambics of Newfoundland: Notes from an Unknown Shore

After spending the greater part of a decade traveling around the island of Newfoundland… NPR radio (host) Robert Finch chronicles the people, geography, and wildlife of this remote and lovely place.

I’m not sure how a non-fiction book about Newfoundland ended up in my library holds, but there it is. Enjoying it.

Yes, this is an affiliate link – they all are.

Technorati Tags: Joan Clark, Latitudes of Melt, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows, David Guterson, East of the Mountains, Tom Caldwell, All You Have to Do is Be, The Iambics of Newfoundland, Notes from an unknown Shore, Robert Finch, Nazi occupation, Cape Race lighthouse, Guernsey occupation, Strength Training for Seniors, Michael Fekete, A Settlement of Memory, Gordon Rodgers, Tom Vincent, Fishermen’s Collective, William Coaker, Fishermen’s Protective Union, Newfoundland fiction