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ExUrbanis

Urban Leaving to Country Living

Friday Afternoon View from My Window 19Oct19

October18

On a cloudy afternoon, following a morning of drizzle, I can still see some autumn colour. It’s amazing that, after the winds of Hurricane Dorian, the remnants of Tropical Storm Melissa, and the mini-tropical depression that pelted us with heavy rain and high winds yesterday, so many of the trees are still holding onto their leaves.

It’s been a gorgeous fall here on the North Shore of Nova Scotia. And today, despite the rain and cloud, was another beautiful day: sweater-mild and glowing.

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You might notice some differences in the landscape since, say September three years ago. We’ve chopped down that scraggly pear tree in the foreground, trimmed up the alder in the “rock” garden, and the spruce tree has grown up past the power lines again. But the biggest change is a result of Hurricane Dorian in late August. We lost the hard maple tree at the very end of the driveway, and half of one of the tamaracks. Friends helped us clean it up the very next day.

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We also lost a pine tree at the parking end of the drive, a small willow by the barn and what amounted to a large limb (in bits and pieces) from the big poplar tree by the house. We (and the house) came through unscathed.

I hope you enjoy this little piece of nature. I’m not looking forward to the winter but, oh my, I do love the fall!

 

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

October16

I wish I lived in Crosby, Maine! Perhaps then I’d personally know Olive Kitteridge. In, fact, I probably would – it’s that kind of small town. I think I’d like Olive. I hope she’d like me. We’re two older women who speak our minds; we’d probably be like stone on stone, flashing and sparking – and sharpening each other.

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Olive, Again—which by now you know is a follow-up to Elizabeth Strout’s phenomenally successful Olive Kitteridge and is similar in structure to that first book—is a series of connected short stories about the people of one small town in Maine. Also, as in the first book, not all of the stories focus on Olive, although the very best are the ones that do.
 

I was particularly moved by Motherless Child, in which Olive’s son and his family pay her a visit at what is (at least as implied to the reader) her invitation, to try to mend relationships. But Olive goes about things awkwardly, as you would expect from Olive. Although both Olive and her daughter-in-law attempt to be pleasant, there are uncomfortable moments; the connection between Olive and her son has its up and downs, and is a decidedly bumpy ride; her relationship with her grandchildren is uncomfortable from both sides. Strout draws all of these people so adroitly that my heart cried for all of them.

As Olive ages in this new book, the years pass far too quickly, and Olive shows her vulnerability more than she did in her first outing with us. In so doing, she makes it far easier to like her –even to love her. Anyway I know that—by the time I finished Olive, AgainI loved Olive and was sorry to know that I won’t be visiting her again.

I received my ecopy of Olive, Again by request through NetGalley. This did not affect my review. Olive, Again was published October 12th and if you live on either American coast, or in Illinois, Missouri or Michigan, you may be able to catch the author on tour up until December 3rd. You can find a list of upcoming events at https://www.elizabethstrout.com/appearances

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

First Book of the Year 2019

January1

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I’m too late to officially join in the First Book of the Year post hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. But I thought my photo was too good to pass up.

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I’m a big fan of Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce “mystery” series. I say “mystery” because these books have become more about Flavia and her family than the actual mysteries, but are no less likeable for it.

This entry, Thrice the Brinded Cat hath Mew’d is #8 in the series. Number 10 The Golden Tresses of the Dead debuts this month so I figured I’d better get caught up before I can’t (get caught up, that is.)

Whatever your first book is, I hope you have tons of reading pleasure in the coming year!

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

posted under Book stuff | 11 Comments »

NONFICTION NOVEMBER Week 5: New to My TBR

November28

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Nonfiction November is being hosted this week by Katie at Doing Dewey.

Oh, my! I’ve seen about a hundred books this month that I want to read. I had to narrow it down, guys. Sorry for anyone I missed.

First – the answers to my call for experts on making big later-in-life changes, and for downsizing. Thank you to all who commented on this post!

Life Changes:
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Suess (to be covered in a separate post, coming soon) recommended by Brona at Brona’s Books

 photo paper garden_zps3fitc4wx.jpgThe Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life’s Work at 72 by Molly Peacock also by Brona, and seconded by Rebecca at Bookish Beck and Marcie at Buried in Print (Doesn’t this look luscious?)

A Glorious Freedom: Older Women Leading Extraordinary Lives by Lisa Congdon also cited by Rebecca

Heather at Gofita’s Pages praised Fluent in 3 Months: How Anyone at Any Age Can Learn to Speak a Language from Anywhere in the World by Benny Lewis

 
Downsizing:
Duane Elgin’s Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Life That is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich was applauded by Jane at Hotchpot Cafe as the “bible” of downsizing from a cultural perspective

Rebecca also appreciated Year of No Clutter by Eve O. Schaub

The Year of Less by Cait Flanders was cited by Jade of Reading with Jade as being thought-provoking in terms of downsizing
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Genevieve Parker Hill’s Minimalist Living: Decluttering for Joy, Health and Creativity was recommended by Michael at Inexhaustible Invitations as dealing with lifestyle shifts in general, in addition to offering practical advice about how to declutter

I also picked up a couple of other helpful resources:
GrowingBolder.com website and podcast also endorsed by Jane and
The Minimalists podcast applauded by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best

I already have Voluntary Simplicity and Eva Schaub’s book on my bedside table, and have the rest of the above list reserved at the library.

 

Further down my TBR I added:

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper
and
Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Languageby Eva Hoffman
I’ve misplaced the names of the bloggers who recommended these. If it was you, please let me know!
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Although not part of a Nonfiction November post, Christie at the Ludic Reader highly praised Orchestra in My Garden: Lessons Learned from Digging Deep by Linda Brooks
 

I saw Educated by Tara Westover on many blogs this month, but it was Rebecca at Bookish Beck who was either the first who mentioned it, or the first to convince me to read it. She called it “one of the most powerful and well-written memoirs I’ve ever read.”

And last, but certainly not least, two books on race because I have biracial grandchildren and because I can’t see race as anything but a social construct:

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

and
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Good White People: the Problem with Middle-Class White Anti-Racism by Shannon Sullivan, both brought to my attention by JoAnn of Lakeside Musing who has done a prodigious amount of reading on this subject.

 

What a great month. Thanks for all the great recommendations – it was really hard to narrow my list down.

Do any of my choices tempt you?

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

NONFICTION NOVEMBER Week 4: Reads Like Fiction

November20

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Nonfiction November is being hosted this week by Rennie at What’s Nonfiction. The prompt is

Nonfiction books often get praised for how they stack up to fiction. Does it matter to you whether nonfiction reads like a novel? If it does, what gives it that fiction-like feeling? Does it depend on the topic, the writing, the use of certain literary elements and techniques? What are your favorite nonfiction recommendations that read like fiction? And if your nonfiction picks could never be mistaken for novels, what do you love about the differences?

 photo inadequate checklist_zpsugdcjpek.jpg Whew! It’s these kind of questions that make me feel totally inadequate and unqualified to be discussing books.

Sure, I like narrative nonfiction, and it helps if there are real-life examples but nonfiction doesn’t necessarily have to read like a novel to keep my interest. Especially if it’s a book that is ‘teaching’ me: I don’t want just dry facts or a school textbook, but I don’t need it sound like fiction either, although history often can! And I doubt I differ from most casual (or even noncasual) readers of nonfiction here.

Memoirs are a slightly different kettle of fish, but even then, I don’t need to think they’re novels, although I think that many do have that feel – and thus seem to be the most widely read area of nonfiction. But what makes them seem so? I will leave that up to the more qualified to discuss.

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The one memoir I read this year Truck: a Love Story is the account of a few years in the life of a man while he is having his beloved derelict International Harvester truck restored. IH trucks were never widely sold and have become something of a rare collector’s item. Perry, however, wanted a working truck – and got one, despite having very little cash to work with. I recommend it.

 

Do the memoirs that you read need to have ‘novel’ qualities?

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

Returning to a Blog Near You . . .

November18

When I first posted this month for Nonfiction November, I implied that I was returning to my blog, after a break that started in May. Admittedly, it’s far easier to participate in prescheduled events than to actually create a blog post. But here I am.

Some of you may realize that before my break, I was using Exurbanis to list & describe all the books that I’ve read, as the years progressed. And you may also know that I was behind in monthly summaries – by about three years. In January of this year (2018) I posted my summary for January 2015 and determined to myself that I was going to be up to date by the end of the year. Instead, I stalled at October 2015, and am now a month further behind than I was in January.

The thought of trying to finish this project almost kept me from returning to blogging. So – I’ve rethought how I’ll keep my book records, and what I’ll use Exurbanis for. If you’re interested in my reading history, you’ll find it pretty much up to date in Library Thing or Good Reads.

That frees me up to post in greater detail about some of the books I read, the ones about which I have something to say to you, without feeling obligated to document them all. And it allows me to talk about other things that are going on in my life and (maybe) to return a bit to the intended purpose of Exurbanis which was to discuss country life.

For a start, here’s what my husband and three friends did yesterday afternoon with our winter’s supply of wood. It’s three stacks deep and there’s two rows stacked up on the deck.  photo wood pile Nov18 450_zpsivbdn8vh.jpg

Bill is repairing the ends as I speak, preparatory for tarping it against the rain and snow.

After the work was done, we sat by the wood stove in the dining room and ate chili and drank rum and Jägermeister and told tall tales. There’s nothing like a wood party to cement friendships.

I hope you’ll stay with me as my future journey on Exurbanis unfolds.

 

P.S. The links may be affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

NONFICTION NOVEMBER Week 3: Ask the Expert

November12

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NONFICTION NOVEMBER is being hosted this week by Julz at JulzReads.
 

This week we can be an expert, ask an expert, or become an expert.

I don’t feel like an expert on anything right now but I do need some inspiration.

 photo ecuador_zpsikhfmsov.gifWhat’s happening:

My husband and I are preparing for retirement which means selling our large home and drastically downsizing.

We are also thinking about making a big move to South America – for six months of the year anyway.

 

What I need:
1) memoirs of people who have made major life changes (or maybe learned a new language?) AFTER AGE 60;

2) the best books about downsizing, especially for when retiring and thinking about where the things you do keep will eventually end up.

 
Any experts out there? Bring on your recommendations – please!

 

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

NONFICTION NOVEMBER Week 2: Fiction/Nonfiction Pairing

November5

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NONFICTION NOVEMBER is being hosted this week by Sarah at Sarah’s Book Shelves. The prompt is to pair one of our nonfiction reads with a fiction title.

Fortunately, one of the few nonfiction books I read in the past year was The Crown: the Official Companion, Volume 1: Elizabeth II, Winston Churchill, and the Making of a Young Queen.

I don’t know how many of you have watched the Netflix series The Crown starring Claire Foy and Matt Smith but I was in love with it. I suspect most viewers felt the same, as it has a 90% rating at RottenTomatoes.com

 photo Crown_zps3vbg0qvm.jpgThe Companion book contained many photos of the series, but also of the real-life royals. It also provided history for each episode about the political and personal disasters taking place at the time. Although we googled the events as the show progressed, I found many things in this book that I had not previously known.

Reading the book greatly enriched my understanding of the time period and of the challenges facing the Queen and Winston Churchill, and I wish I had read it concurrently with watching the series.

* * * * *

My fiction pick for this is a book I read in 2016 titled The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. It had originally been recommended by Shannon of River City Reading.

The Royal We photo Royal We_zpslfafyojl.jpgIt’s a chick-litty romance which is not something I usually read, but I was intrigued by the royal connection. It features all-American Rebecca (Bex) Porter, who goes to Oxford and falls in love with the guy across the hall, who just happens to be the heir to the British throne. It was sort of based on William and Katherine, but would make great reading now in light of Harry & Meghan.

There are the meetings with “the family”, procural of the queen’s approval, the protocol, the protocol, and more protocol. If you’re a fan of the Duchess of Sussex and her handsome husband, I’m pretty sure that you’ll really enjoy this book.

 

So, tell me, are you a royals watcher?

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

NONFICTION NOVEMBER: My Year in Nonfiction

October29

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It’s been almost six months since my last post and I expect that quite a few of you didn’t expect to see me blog again. Truthfully, the longer I went, the more unsure I was that I would return. But more about that in another post.

For now, I’m breaking radio silence by taking apart in NONFICTION NOVEMBER hosted by five fabulous bloggers. To kick off the month, I’m looking back on my year of nonfiction and linking to this week’s co-host Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness.
 
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In Pursuit of Memory_zpslocfwk5c.jpgMy reading overall was down dramatically in the past year, and I had only 3½ nonfiction titles in the mix. They represented a wide range of topics: medicine, history and lifestyle.

I enjoyed all of them equally and rated each of them four stars out of five, but the one that has stayed with me is In Pursuit of Memory: The Fight Against Alzheimer’s by Joseph Jabelli.

In the foreword, we’re warned:

As the world’s population ages, Alzheimer’s is expected to affect 135 million people by 2050, overtaking cancer to become the second leading cause of death after heart disease.

and in Chapter 1:

[N]ew acceptance highlighted Alzheimer’s as ‘a major killer’—the fourth leading cause of death in America alone—and something far more ominous than previously thought. With the world’s population steadily ageing, Alzheimer’s could now be seen for what it truly is: a global and inescapable epidemic.

The author tells us about the origins of Alzheimer’s Disease, the research that’s being done, what we can personally do to prevent it, and what’s happening in experimental treatment.

He also includes a quote by Professor Nick Fox on a tour of a Science Museum:

One in three people in this room will get Alzheimer’s,’ Fox continued. ‘One in two will look after someone with Alzheimer’s.’ He paused and turned again. “As a society we’re sleepwalking into this.’

Don’t sleepwalk. Given those odds, you’ll be affected in some way by this disease. So, read this book.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to in their nonfiction reading. Be sure to visit the list of participants at Sophisticated Dorkiness.

It’s good to be back.

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

My Blog’s Name in Books

May3

I saw this first done by Lisa at ANZLitlovers, then by Bev at My Reader’s Block and Karen at Booker Talk. It originated with Fictionophile.

 photo my-blogs-name-in-books 200w_zps0xd3db5d.pngThe rules are:
*Spell out you blog’s name using books from your TBR that begin with each letter.
*No adding books from other sources.
*Have fun.

Pressed for time, I decided to use my Kindle TBR ‘shelf’, and limit myself to fiction that wasn’t a mystery. I nearly succeeded, needing to include a cozy mystery title for that elusive “X”.

E The Elephant’s Journey by Jose Saramago

X An eXhibit of Madness by Kerry J. Charles (#1 in the Dulcie Chambers Museum Mystery series)

U Us by David Nicholls

R The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

B Boys and Girls Together by William Goldman

A Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington

N News of the World by Paulette Jiles

I The Illegal by Lawrence Hill

S Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

 

It looks like I have good reading to take on vaction with me this year without carrying paper books. What’s on your ereader?

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P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

posted under Book stuff | 7 Comments »

Cultural Definitions: Social Class Quiz

April26

Hey guys, this is downright scary.

I took this quiz, suggested by Kate at Books are My Favourite and Best, and it told me: “Your cultural tastes are most similar to a middle-class woman, aged 60+ with a postgraduate education.” Spot on.

I’d be interested in your results.

P.S. The quiz is hosted by ABC News and researched by the Australian Cultural Fields project, sponsored by Western Sydney University. On a couple of the quiz questions, I substituted “Canadian” for “Australian”. You’ll see what I mean.

 

I Spy Challenge April 2018

April11

I saw this on Cleopatra Loves Books blog and wanted to do it for the same reason as Margaret at Books Please – I love lists as well as books. I tried to stick to fiction on my physical ‘unread’ shelves, and was able to do it in the time provided except for a couple of problem categories which necessitated a second sweep.

The instructions: Find a book on your bookshelves that contains (either on the cover or in the title) an example for each category. You must have a separate book for all 20, get as creative as you want and do it within five minutes!! (or longer if you have way too many books on way too many overcrowded shelves!)

1. Food

American Pie by Michael Lee West

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I was attracted to this by its title, since I love theme reading and I have a nonfiction Kindle book of the same name, and Canadian Pie by Will Ferguson also in my stacks.

 

2. Transportation

The Automobile Club of Egypt by Alaa Al Aswany
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This was an impulse book store buy that I haven’t cracked open yet.

 

3. Weapon

Big White Knuckles by Brian Tucker

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I had a hard time finding something for this category, but knuckles can be a weapon, right? Since this is set in a Cape Breton coal-mining community, I’m going with ‘yes’.

 
American Pie

4. Animal

In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje

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Canadian content that I should have read in high school. I have good intentions. . . .

 

5. Number

A Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan

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I’ve read a couple of books by Amy Tan, but never this one.

 
6. Something You Read

Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher

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I would have had more success from my nonfiction shelves where I have books about books galore, but we do read postcards.

 

7. Body of Water

In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O’Brien

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I thought O’Brien’s The Things They Carried was a powerful and moving book, so I’m looking forward to this one.

 
8. Product of Fire

Louisiana Power and Light by John Dufresne

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I was so busy looking for the after-products of a fire, that I completely missed this book on my first sweep. I’m going with ‘light’ as one of the things a fire produces!

 

9. Royalty

The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter

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New York City! Immigrants! Jigsaw Puzzles! How can this miss?!

 

10. Architecture

The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright

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Although you wouldn’t know it from the cover of this modern reprint, this classic children’s book is all about the Melendy family’s move to, and life in, the country house known as the four-story mistake. I cheated a bit on this category because I’ve read this book at least a dozen times in my life, but I’m sure I’ll read it again too.

 

11. Item of Clothing

A Cupboard Full of Coats by Yvette Edwards

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I put this in my stacks when it was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2011, intrigued by the title and the charming cover on my edition, as much as the synopsis.

 
12. Family Member

Travels with My Aunt by Graham Greene

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I started to read this last year but found I really wasn’t in the mood to finish. Rather than give up on this vintage classic, I reshelved it for another try.

 

13. Time of Day

Sunset Park by Paul Auster

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I’ve never read Auster and I’m not sure what to expect from this piece of literary fiction. I just hope the story is more “on” than the colour of this cover – it doesn’t much look like a sunset to me.

 

14. Music

Accordian Crimes by Annie Proulx

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Another that I read several years ago and hope to reread. I remember this as wickedly funny – in the end.

 

15. Paranormal Being

Pluto’s Ghost by Sheree Fitch

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Since I never read anything with paranormal beings, I thought this category would go unfilled. Then I came upon this little gem by local author Sheree Fitch, that I picked when visiting her Mable Murple’s Book Shoppe & Dreamery in nearby River John NS last summer. I’m pretty sure this has nothing to do with a real ghost.

 
16. Occupation

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie

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China’s Cultural Revolution, a hidden stash of Western Classics, and a love of reading. Yum!

 

17. Season

Autumn Laing by Alex Miller

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Every time I look at this Miles Franklin Award nominee from 2012, I want to curl up on the couch and lose myself in it. Soon, I promise myself.

 

18. Colour

The Blue Light Project by Timothy Taylor

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From Vancouver author Taylor, this story of a hostage taking at a filming of a children’s talent show sounds promising.

 

19. Celestial Body

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold

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I was attracted to this novel because it unfolds over a twenty-four hour period, a structure that I very much enjoy.

 

20. Something That Grows

Roses are Difficult Here by W.O. Mitchell

 photo roses are diffcult here_zpsxppxrasx.jpg

This category was bound to be a Canadian classic: either Roses or Anne of Windy Poplars by Lucy Maud Montgomery (which Kindle edition is free as of time of writing).

 

* * * * * * *

 
How many are on your bookshelf? Want to give this challenge a try yourself? Consider yourself tagged.

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

posted under Book stuff | 5 Comments »

Mystery Books Read in October 2015

April6

 
My reading theme for the month (‘last’ in the title) spilled over into my mystery reading as well. I’m glad – because I discovered a couple of excellent new-to-me series.

 

* * * * * * *

 

1. THE LAST POLICEMAN by Ben H. Winters #1 Last Policeman series (Fiction, Literary, Trilogy, American) 4.5 star rating

Although I’ve listed this among my mystery books for the month, The Last Policeman could really be classified as a non-genre examination of what happens to society when people know the earth is going to be destroyed.
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Scientists have determined that a meteorite will smash into earth in October and destroy life as we know it. Society is crumbling around Henry Palace, still trying to do his job as a Concord NH detective, a job to which he was recently promoted. He’s working on an apparent suicide that he feels is murder.

Winters say in understatement: “The end of the world changes everything, from a law-enforcement perspective.” We might question why even bother to investigate. But Winters convinces us that Henry is doing the only possible thing he can do.

I’m very much looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this trilogy.

4½ stars

 

2. SAVAGE RUN by C.J. Box #2 Joe Pickett (Fiction, Mystery, Series, American) 4.5 star rating

 photo savage run - Copy_zpsz8n7ijst.jpg
Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett is called to investigate an act of counter-eco-terrorism in the Bighorn Mountains.

This is a sometimes funny, sometimes angry sequel to Open Season which I read and very much liked in April 2015. Reviewer Barry Trinkle says: “Box depicts the spare beauty and cussed individualism of the Intermountain West with the sure hand of a seasoned writer.”

I’m definitely continuing on with this series.

4½ stars

 
3. THE LAST DETECTIVE by Peter Lovesey #1 Peter Diamond (Fiction, Mystery, Police Procedural, Series, English) 4 star rating

 photo last detective_zps28by4lmx.jpgThis was published in 1991 when computers had been in the general work force about 15 years but were not nearly as developed as today. Peter Diamond is the ‘last detective’ because he still insists that leg-work, and not computers, is what will solve a case.

I like Peter Diamond and enjoyed seeing him rely on the ‘old’ methods of detecting, while not completely ignoring the advantages of computer technology. This had a good mystery, with lots of dry humour.

By degrees, the pain spread and became less intense. Diamond opened his eyes. They watered copiously. Just as well, he told himself grimly, because he doubted whether the organ intended for watering would ever function again.

I do intend to carry on with this series. A big thank you to Cathy at Kittling: Books for bringing Lovesey— & Diamond—to my attention.

4 stars

 

4. A LAST GOODBYE by J.A. Jance (novella) Ali Reynolds & Joanna Brady (Fiction, Mystery, Private Investigators, Series, American) 3.5 star rating

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I believe A Last Goodbye was a free Kindle novella that I downloaded because I once read a J.P. Beaumont novel by Jance that I really, really liked.

This book has the protagonists of two of her other very popular series meeting to . . . I can’t remember. There was hospital visiting and a dog (as evidenced by the cover) involved, but I forget the rest.

It was well-written, but forgettable.

3½ stars

 

5. THE DEVIL’S MAKING by Sean Haldane (Fiction, Mystery, Historical, British author – set in Canada) 3 star rating

 photo devils making - Copy_zpsicde5omu.jpgIt might be stretching it a bit to say this was set in Canada because in 1869, the Pacific-bordering territory of British Columbia had not yet joined Confederation. Nonetheless, Chad Hobbes, newly arrived in Victoria, finds himself made a police detective and sent to investigate the death of Dr. McCrory, a new age doctor who was found stabbed with his cut-off penis in his hand (it had been in his mouth).

My notes tell me that I thought the period details were incredibly well-researched but that the author was trying too hard to be crude. There were heavy-handed red herrings to one of the suspects, and the actual murderer was someone only on the very peripheral of the story.

I was also disturbed by the details of Chad’s awareness of women as sexual beings once he was no longer a virgin. Are men so constantly thinking these things?

Overall, as a period history perhaps, but as a murder mystery poorly done.

3 stars

 

* * * * * * *

Have you read any of these? Do any appeal to you?

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

Books Read in October 2015

April3

October 2015 saw me recovering from back surgery: clear-headed and alert, but limited in my activities. A perfect month for reading!

A couple of library reserves with the word ‘Last’ in the title arrived so I gathered up as many other ‘Lasts’ as I could find. In total, between mysteries and others, eight of the twelve books I read were titled ‘Last’-Something. The theme gave me a wide range of books.

I’ll cover the mystery books in a separate post.

 

1. THE LITTLE SHADOWS by Marina Endicott (Fiction, Literary, Historical, Canadian) 4.5 star rating

 photo little shadows_zpsmghs36m6.jpgI do love Marina Endicott, who departs from her usual current day settings to tell this story set on the vaudeville circuit of the Canadian prairies and Montana in the years 1912 to 1917. It follows the fortunes of three sisters who form a singing and dancing act.

It’s a thoroughly absorbing story and I thought the ‘placard’ chapter titles were a delightful touch.

This was first recommended to me by the late Kevin from Canada.

4½ stars

2. LAST MAN IN TOWER by Aravind Adiga (Fiction, Literary, Indian) 4.5 star rating

When a real estate developer offers to buy out the residents of Bombay Co-operative Housing Society Tower A, planning to use the site to build a luxury apartment complex, initially not everyone wants to leave; many of the residents have lived in the tower for years, and many of them are no longer young. But it’s an everyone-or-no-one deal.
 photo last man in tower_zpskdhkfkfx.jpg
As tensions rise among the once civil neighbours, one by one those who oppose the offer give way to the majority, until only one man stands in Shah’s way: Masterji, a retired schoolteacher, once the most respected man in the building.

There are humourous moments but the story takes a dark turn as one by one the community turns on Masterji, and the suspense rises to an almost unbearable level. It’s a rich story peopled with a large cast of well-developed characters. I very much enjoyed this book.

Although it was Oxford County Library’s monthly newsletter that first alerted me to this book, I thereafter read Lisa’s excellent review at ANZ Litlovers.

4½ stars

 

3. THE HEN WHO DREAMED SHE COULD FLY by Sun M. Huang, translated by Chi Young Kim, illustrated by Nomoco (Fiction, Literary, Translated, Korean) 3.5 star rating

 photo hen who dreamed_zpsnkifrj4m.jpgCalled a Korean ‘fable for our time’, this is the tale of Sprout, a self-named battery laying hen who has one dream: to be a yard hen so she can hatch an egg and raise a baby. She escapes a mass cull operation, and finding herself outside the fence, finds an egg in the hedge to sit on. She hatches a duckling, which she raises, to find that it is accepted as neither duck nor chicken.

Although it examines themes of freedom, motherhood and prejudice, its effect on me was only so-so.

Thank you to Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea whose review first prompted me to add this to my TBR list.

3½ stars

 

4. LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER by Stewart O’Nan (Fiction< American) 3.5 star rating

 photo last night at the lobster_zpsl7bg55zl.jpgLisa at Lit and Life recommended this short novel about a Red Lobster restaurant in a Maine mall on its last night of business. The last shift sees a motley crew present (many have already found work elsewhere), and a blizzard that keeps away the supper trade.

It’s character-driven, but there’s not a lot of time for character development. Again, I was mildly disappointed.

3½ stars

 

5. THE LAST PILOT by Benjamin Johncock (Fiction, Historical, American) 3.5 star rating

The last pilot is set in 1960 and 1961, during the early days of the American space program when US Armed Forces pilots were ‘testing-driving’ jets over the Mojave Desert and dying at an alarming rate in crashes.

 photo last pilot_zpsmgicfmum.jpgJohncock has peopled his novel with the real players in the game – the real astronauts, the real bar owner, and so on, except for the main characters of Jim Harrison and his wife Grace. This fictional couple desperately want a child and think constantly about new life even as the news in the bar almost weekly seems to be the death of another colleague.

There are problems inherent in using actual historical figures that limit the possibilities for the fictional ones. The story never seemed to really take-off (no pun intended). In addition, I was irritated that the author moved between calling the protagonist ‘Jim’ and ‘Harrison’ for no apparent rhyme not reason. There was also a mention of placing clothes in large black trash bags which were not available for home use until the late ’60s – early ‘70s.

On the balance, I found the book to be somewhat interesting (the actual history) but ‘meh’ as far as the story.

 

3½ stars

 

6. THE LAST DAY by Emily Organ (Fiction) 3 star rating
 photo last day_zpscwbwkauk.jpg
When George was 11, he dreamt the day of his death – and now it’s here.

That much is included on the author’s website – and that much, I remember. But, honestly, although I finished the book, it seems that I thought it only so-so at the time, and now cannot remember another thing about it.

3 stars

 

7. THE LAST KINGS OF SARK by Rosa Rankin-Gee (Fiction) 2.5 star rating

 photo last kings of sark_zpstmaqzjcb.jpgI included this in my reading because of the setting on Sark, one of the Channel Islands, from which my mother-in-law’s family emigrated,(Guernsey), and because it has lovely cover.

The story follows three teenagers over the course of a summer on Sark. It’s beautifully written but the plot ends about halfway through and then the book drones on and on.

2 stars

* * * * * * *

I love months like this because I can choose such a variety of books, some of which I’d never have gotten to otherwise. Have you ever had a month when you read on a theme such as the word ‘last’ in the title?

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

Wednesday HodgePodge 28Mar18

March28

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Joyce over at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly hodepodge of questions. It’s been a month since I hopped into the discussion so it’s time!
 

1. What’s a word that describes your life? Cluttered
A word you wish described your life? Simple
 

2. Back in my day we
subscribed to newspapers. I always had a least two dailies coming to the house, and one at the office. Sunday afternoons, I sat down with four weekend papers. It was glorious. It was a trial for me when we first moved to rural Nova Scotia because we couldn’t get any national newspaper delivered – and even the copy I could buy at the pharmacy in the summertime has been discontinued.

 photo newspapers-stock_zpsq65eryj5.jpgBut that’s not the issue. I just read this CBC news article (on-line, of course)—“Your lifestyle is making blue box recycling unsustainable”—about the problem facing recycling programs today. Basically, the sale of recycled paper used to cover the cost of processing the plastics, but because the volume of printed newspapers has dropped dramatically in the past 20 years, so has the income of these programs.

Add to that: the volume of plastics has increased BUT the income from these is based on tonnage (takes a lot of plastic to make a ton) and the processing capacity of the recyclers is based on volume. And there’s the problem of handling all the new kinds of recyclables on the market now: your take-out salad bowl, your frozen vegetables bag, or any ‘combined’ product such as bubble envelopes. (Are they paper? Are they plastic? Can they even be recycled?)
 

3. When it comes to takeout are you more likely to opt for Italian, Mexican, or Chinese food? Does a typical week at your house include takeout?

Hmm . . . of the three options, the only one available in a less-than-45-minute drive is Chinese, although there is a food bus that sells “tacos” in the summer cottage season. We probably have Chinese take-out (no delivery) once a month or so.
 

4. Think about the people you most respect. What is it about them that earned your respect?

The word that sprang to my mind was ‘integrity’. Webster’s Dictionary defines that as “having sound moral principles, uprightness, honesty, and sincerity”.

Yup, that’s it. It’s those people. I’m thankful that I have a lot of them in my life.
 

5. What’s something your friends might see and say is ‘so you’?  photo bookcase_zps41gdygqj.jpg

Wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling bookcases. It’s something I’ve wanted all my life and finally got two years ago. Then our real estate agent told us that at least half of them had to come out if we want to sell the house. I can’t tell you how shattered I was.

(These aren’t mine. I couldn’t find a photo of mine on short notice.)

 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Since I live in part of that region of North America that has had four nor’easters this month, I’m hearing a lot about how it’s supposed to be spring. I have to restrain myself from that line of thinking because I know that spring comes to northern Nova Scotia in May. At the beginning, it’s cold and colourless. By the 31st, it’s summer.

It’s a miracle month, but it’s still five weeks away.

 

What about you? What did you do back in your day?

 

World Poetry Day 2018: Old Brown’s Daughter

March21

March 21st, aside from being the Spring Equinox this year (more later), is also World Poetry Day. The day was established by UNESCO in 1999. The United Nations site explains “Poetry reaffirms our common humanity by revealing to us that individuals, everywhere in the world, share the same questions and feelings. Poetry is the mainstay of oral tradition and, over centuries, can communicate the innermost values of diverse cultures.”

Most Anything You Please by Trudy Morgan-Cole photo Most Anything You please_zpsvo94bwt2.jpgThat sounds so serious – and the poetry I’d like to share today is not. It prefaces the book Most Anything You Please by Trudy J. Morgan-Cole which I just picked up from the library yesterday and am itching to start. It’s about three generations of women who run a small grocery and confectionary store in St. John’s Newfoundland.

The words of this poem are taken from Old Brown’s Daughter by G.W. Hunt, an old English music hall song which has become a Newfoundland folk song.

Old Brown sells from off the shelf most anything you please
He’s got jews-harps for the little boys, lollipops and cheese.
His daughter minds the store and it’s a treat to see her serve
I’d like to run away with her but I don’t have the nerve.

Although we’re supposed to be getting a snow/ice pellets/freezing rain storm this evening, this morning is sunny. I think that’s appropriate given, that for the next six months, our daylight hours here in the Northern Hemisphere will be greater than the dark hours. Hurrah!

Happy World Poetry Day! Thank you to Sue at Whispering Gums for the impetus for this post. Her take on the day is much more intelligent and diverse than mine.

Do you have a bit of rhyme you’d like to share?

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

Books Read in September 2015

March6

books readIn early September 2015, I received an unexpected call from my neurosurgeon, with a cancellation the following week – and a date for my spinal fusion surgery.

Knowing I would be dozy for a few days with the general anaesthetic and the painkillers, I piled up some of my ‘easy reading’: mysteries from some favourite series. A picture book and a cookbook rounded out my selection.
Let’s cover those first.

 

1. THREE CUPS by Mark St. Germain illustrated by April Willy (Fiction, Children’s Picture book) 5 star rating

The current issue of this book lists Tony Townsley as the author and St. Germain as a “contributor”.
 photo three cups_zpstzra4mmk.jpg

3CupsBook.com explains that the system used by the fictional family in this charming picture book was originally devised by Townsley & his wife for their children. St. Germain wrote the text of the book.

The Townsleys tried to teach their children that it is not how much money you have that is important, it’s how you use it and devised a game of three cups (Spend, Save, Share) ‘to help them develop positive habits early on that would last them the rest of their lives.’

I don’t even want to think about the politics and legalities of that attribution situation, but I do know that this book makes wonderful sense. If you have small (or even older) children or grandchildren, I recommend you check it out.

Stacie at Simply Stacie first brought this book to my attention back in 2010.

5 stars
 

2. MAKE THE BREAD, BUY THE BUTTER by Jennifer Reese (Nonfiction, Cookbook, Home)5 star rating

 photo make the bread_zpstl4tp4cg.jpgIt’s seldom that I rate a cookbook five stars, but Make the Bread, Buy the Butter is so much more than a cookbook. Cover blurb says: “When Jennifer Reese lost her job, she was overcome by an impulse common among the recently unemployed: to economize by doing for herself what she had previously paid for. . . . So Reese began a series of kitchen-related experiments, taking into account the competing demands of everyday contemporary American family life . . . . Although you should make your hot dog buns, guacamole, and yogurt, you should probably buy your hamburger buns, potato chips, and rice pudding. Tired? Buy your mayonnaise. Inspired? Make it.”

Reese considers much more than just the cost-saving (or not) of making your own, but also time and effort expenditure, ethics, and quality & taste. Where her opinion is that you should make something, she provides a recipe – over 120 of them.

 photo buttercream_zpsvx63xqcy.jpgI always try at least one recipe from a cookbook before I pass judgment. In this case, it was ‘Simplest Buttercream’ frosting. It was that simple – and scrumptious.

But it’s not the recipes that made me love this book – it was the wit and warmth as she regaled me with the stories of cooking, baking and animal husbandry. I read this cover to cover, and every bit of it was a delight.

A huge shout of thanks to Leslie at Under My Apple Tree for prompting me to buy it.

5 stars

 

NOW FOR THOSE MYSTERIES:

3. THE CRUELEST MONTH by Louise Penny (Fiction, Mystery, Police Procedural, Series, Canadian) 4.5 star rating
#3 Armand Gamache & Three Pines

 photo cruelest month_zpsqutgzvnv.jpgPenny writes an excellent mystery set in the fictional village of Three Pines, Quebec but she also writes with wonderful insight into the human experience:
‘I can’t believe she’s gone,’ said Hazel, sitting down as though her legs had given way. Loss was like that, Gamache knew. You didn’t just lose a loved one. You lost your heart, your memories, your laughter, your brain and it even took your bones. Eventually it all came back, but different. Rearranged.

And with humour:

Gamache couldn’t sleep. His bedside clock said 2:22. He’d been lying awake watching the bright red numbers change since the clock had said 1:11. He’d been woken up not by a bad dream, not by anxiety or a full bladder. He’d been woken up by frogs. Peepers. An army of invisible frogs at the pond spent most of the night singing a mating call. He would have thought they’d be exhausted by now, but apparently not. At dusk it was joyful, after dinner it was atmospheric. At 2 a.m. it was simple annoying. Anyone who said the country was peaceful hadn’t spent time there. Especially in the spring.

I’m not sure why I haven’t made time to get back to this series.

4½ stars

 

4. THE DARK VINEYARD by Martin Walker (Fiction, Mystery, Police Procedural, Series, Francophilic) 4.5 star rating
#2 Bruno, Chief of Police

 photo dark vineyard_zps3at4hbzu.jpgAh – (fictional) St. Denis, in southwest France, the home of Bruno, chief of police and all things southern France-y. In this episode industrial espionage threatens the local wineries, a research station growing genetically modified crops is burned down, and a big US winemaker wants to buy up land in the valley to produce a homogenous commercial product that is anathema to Bruno and most of the people of his community.

Walker captures modern life in rural France: where the locals still take their own containers to the local wineries and fill their own for one Euro a liter or less, but where “Saint-Denis now boasted four bakeries, four salons, four real estate agencies, three banks, three shops selling foie gras and other local delicacies, but there was only one grocery and one butcher’s shop. The fishmonger had long since given way to an insurance agency. Another grocery had been replaced the previous winter by a business that serviced computers and sold cell phones and DSL lines for the Internet. And a butcher had retired in the spring and now rented his premises to a real estate agent. It was no longer the Saint-Denis Bruno had first come to a decade ago [written 2009], when the small towns of rural France still retained the shops and the texture he remembered from his boyhood. Now people shopped at the supermarkets on the outskirts of town, or drove to the complex of shopping malls and hypermarkets outside Périgueux, forty minutes away.”

I continue to love this series.

4½ stars
 

5. SCENTS & SENSIBILITY by Spencer Quinn (Fiction, Mystery, Private Investigator, Series, Animal narrator) 4 star rating
#8 Chet & Bernie

 photo scents and sensibility_zpszm0qboxs.jpgAnother great entry in this series, this one dealing with the illegal cactus trade (and murder – of people, not of cacti).

I think Quinn is tiring of this series. The writing and the mystery are still first-rate but the end of the book is a cliff-hanger that could most easily (and probably correctly) be construed to mean that Bernie dies.

There was outrage by fans, and Quinn has been promising a sequel now for a couple of years. But I have a feeling this series is no longer his first love. I dread the end of it.

4½ stars
 

6. A FÊTE WORSE THAN DEATH by Dolores Gordon-Smith (Fiction, Mystery, Series, Amateur Sleuth) 4 star rating
#1 Jack Haldean

 photo fete worse than death_zpsb9xzaleg.jpgIt’s 1922 and Jack Haldean, young crime writer and former Royal Flying Corps pilot, is enjoying the local fete on a beautiful summer’s day in rural Sussex. When his friend is murdered, Jack steps in to solve the crime. I can’t remember how the police figured in this one, but I do remember being pleasantly surprised at the quality of the mystery, and that I enjoyed it even though I saw the murderer right away.

I find it amusing that the title of this book works because, although the French pronounce the French word fête fet, the English pronounce it fate. Much like the French word valet (va-lay) which the English say is val-et. (Just going to do it our way.)

4 stars
 

7. FOOL’S PUZZLE by Earlene Fowler (Fiction, Mystery, Amateur Sleuth, Series) 4 star rating
#1 Benni Harper

 photo fools puzzle_zps6aajsvtx.jpgMany years ago, I somehow got hold of and read the fourth in this series featuring Benni Harper who is a folk art museum curator in fictional San Celina, California.

I was attracted initially by the title of Goose in the Pond because it, and the name of all of the books in this series, are quilt patterns. I discovered a likeable protagonist and a good mystery and meant to get back to it before this.

In Fool’s Puzzle, 34-year-old Benni, newly widowed, lands the job just mentioned and then finds herself embroiled in the murder of an artist and small town intrigues.

This series is well worth continuing.

4 stars
 

8. THE HERRING-SELLER’S APPRENTICE by L.C. Tyler (Fiction, Mystery, Amateur Sleuth, Series, British) 4 star rating
#1 Ethelred & Elsie

 photo herring-seller_zpshdhigute.jpgEthelred Tressider, mystery write (aka herring seller “it was a facetious reference to the red herrings that she considered my stock in trade”), and his agent, Elsie (the herring seller’s apprentice?) try to solve the mystery of the apparent death by suicide of Ethelred’s ex-wife Geraldine. Geraldine had taken several people, including another of her ex-husbands and her banker, to the cleaners with an investment scam.

Even though I recognized the cleverness of the plot at the end of the book, I doubt I’ll read more of this series since I remember feeling confused—almost disoriented–most of the way through. (Maybe it was those painkillers?) Jane (when she was blogging at Fleur in Her World ) recommended this.

4 stars
 

9. WOOF by Spencer Quinn (Fiction, Young Readers, Mystery, Animal Narrator, Series) 4 star rating
#1 Birdie & Bowser
 photo woof_zpshzkobb1z.jpg
Woof is the start of a new series by Spencer Quinn, author of the Chet & Bernie mysteries. It’s narrated by Bowser who sounds, perhaps not surprisingly, very much like Chet – that is, dumb but smart, hilarious, & loveable. His new mistress is 11-year-old Birdie who lives on the Louisiana coast with her Grammy. When a prize stuffed marlin is stolen from Grammy’s bait and tackle shop, Birdie and Bowser take on the case.

This is a charming start to what is no doubt an excellent series, but I do prefer the adult version (Chet & Bernie).

4 stars

 

10. MURDER PAST DUE by Miranda James (Fiction, Mystery, Cozy, Series) 3.5 star rating
#1 Cat in the Stacks
 photo murder past due_zpsxby8yow0.jpg

Small-town Mississippi librarian Charlie Harris walks his rescued Maine Coon cat Diesel on a leash – and takes on the murder of a former classmate who has become a famous author.

Charlie remembers Godfrey Priest as an arrogant jerk – and he continued to be after his school years, leaving no end of suspects for Charlie to investigate.
 

I enjoyed this well enough at the time but don’t remember much about it. Thank you to Bev at My Reader’s Block for pointing me toward it.

3½ stars
 

* * * * *

And that stack got me through the immediate post-op period and well on the way to mending.

Usually my reaction to being able to spot the murderer is boredom – and frustration at the ineptness of the author, but sometimes (as with A Fête Worse than Death this month and Agatha Christie’s Five Little Pigs) it provides an opportunity to watch the author’s sleight-of-hand and is quite entertaining.

What’s your usual reaction to being able to spot the murderer before the reveal?

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

Six Degrees of Separation from The Beauty Myth

March3

It’s time again for the Six Degrees of Separation link-up, hosted by Kate at Books are My Favourite and Best and you can find complete details by clicking on the link.

This month, the start to everyone’s chain is The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf. Wolf asserts that the “beauty myth” is an obsession with physical perfection that traps the modern woman in an endless spiral of hope, self-consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society’s impossible definition of “the flawless beauty.”

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1. The beauty myth is probably the reason why I bought and read Charla Krupp’s How Not to Look Old: Fast and Effortless Ways to Look 10 Years Younger, 10 Pounds Lighter, 10 Times Better (plus its companion book How to Never Look Fat Again). Both of these actually had some great tips, some of which are beyond me now, but some that I still employ. Perhaps without them, I’d look older and fatter than I do.

2. Having played into the trap of the Beauty Myth with Charla’s books, I’ll try to fight the myth, and turn to Going Gray: What I Learned about Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity, and Everything Else That Really Matters by Anne Kreamer. This book was an account of the author’s decision to stop dying her hair, and let her natural beauty shine through (that’s her on the cover).

I read this several years ago when I didn’t know that I would be 63 and not yet grey. (It’s a gene from my mother’s side of the family.)

3. But grey or not, I am 63 and considered a senior by many, so Strength Training for Seniors: How to Rewind Your Biological Clock by Michael Fekete was a clearance purchase I made in an effort to feel younger.

I believe it was David J. Lieberman in Get Anyone to Do Anything who said that, if you want people to like you, move like a young person. Strength training is necessary for me to even try to do that.

4. Some studies show that exercise may be a way to lower the likelihood of Alzheimer’s. In In Pursuit of Memory: The Fight Against Alzheimer’s, Joseph Jebelli says that as the more of the world’s population becomes seniors, “Alzheimer’s is expected to affect 135 million people by 2050, overtaking cancer to become the second leading cause of death after heart disease.” (According to the Office for National Statistics, it already has in England and Wales.)

I haven’t finished In Pursuit of Memory yet, but I’m finding it fascinating. Alzheimer’s is such a difficult and misunderstood disease. It leads me to my next link.

5. In How Many Camels are There in Holland: Dementia, Ma and Me, Phyllida Law recounts the final months of caring for her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, in the tiny Scottish village of Ardentinny – with the help of friends, local villagers, and her two daughters, actresses Emma and Sophie Thompson. Amazon says that running through the account are “anecdotes, memories and legends that form the fabric of every family.”

Unfortunately when I tried to read it a couple of years ago, I got no further than the first chapter and just couldn’t make sense of it. That probably says more about my state of mind at the time than it does about the book.

6. I was reading a hardcover copy of How Many Camels that I bought because several years ago, I greatly enjoyed Law’s Notes to My Mother-in-Law. A sweet & short memoir of sorts, written in the titular notes by the author to her mother-in-law, who was hard of hearing and yet wanted the day’s news and arrangements, it was a short and charming read. Both women sounded like people I’d like to know, and Phyllida’s respect and affection for her mother-in-law were evident.

 

So there you have it – a journey through some of my nonfiction reading for the past few years. I seem to be focusing on aging. Quelle surprise. What most concerns you as you get older?

P.S. Did you notice that the covers for all three of the books dealing with Alzheimer’s are white – fading away? A statement?
 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

Books Read in August 2015

February23

books read

This month, I slogged through a 700 page testimonial to pain, and supplemented that with several children’s chapter books – and one of my favourite Canadian authors.


I’ve included the two mysteries I read at the end of this post.

 

1. GOOD TO A FAULT by Marina Endicott (Fiction, Literary, Canadian) 4.5 star rating

In a moment of distraction, spinster Clara Purdy crashes her car into one which contains a homeless family – in fact, the car was their home. When mother Lorraine is taken to hospital, she is diagnosed with late-stage cancer. Feeling somewhat responsible for their current predicament, Clara takes the rest of the family (three children, including a ten-month-old & their paternal grandmother.)
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Clara is a good person—good to a fault, it seems. Clara invites the whole family to live with her while Lorraine has medical treatment. The husband/father takes off soon after with no notice, leaving Clara with granny & the kids. There are emotional entanglements and other consequences of Clara’s practical goodness.

From Amazon: “What, exactly, does it mean to be good? When is sacrifice merely selfishness? What do we owe in this life and what do we deserve?”

I find Marina Endicott’s novels to be consistently enjoyable. Thank you to Trish at Desktop Retreat who reminded that this remained unread. Recommended.

4½ stars

 

2. INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai (Fiction, Children’s Chapter, Vietnamese/American) 4.5 star rating

A young girl tells the story of her family’s escape from Saigon when it fell, and their experience in a refugee camp in Florida, sponsored by someone in Alabama, where the family eventually end up.

It’s told entirely in free verse. It’s very beautiful and, despite my categorizing it as a children’s book, I recommend it for readers of all ages.

 photo inside out_zps6xv71krd.jpg
No one would believe me
but at times
I would choose
wartime in Saigon
Over
peacetime in Alabama.

A shout out and thank you to Rebecca of Rebecca Reads who convinced me to try this.

4½ stars

 

3. THE HIGHER POWER OF LUCKY by Susan Patron (Fiction, Children’s Chapter) 4 star rating

 photo higher power_zpswvsfrra0.jpgTen-year-old Lucky Trimble lives in Hard Pan, California, pop. 43, at the edge of the desert. Her mom recently died as the result of going outside after a storm and touching a downed electrical wire. She’s now living with her biological father’s first wife, Birgitte, who has come from France to look after Lucky. And Lucky is afraid Birgitte will return to France, leaving her in an orphanage.

Lucky hangs around the town hall where all the “anonymous” meetings are held (Alcoholics, Gamblers, Overeaters) and she overhears them all talking about finding their ‘higher power’. Lucky thinks if she can find her higher power, Birgitte will stay in Hard Pan with Lucky.

Very sweet.

4 stars

 

4. ON POPPY’S BEACH by Susan Pynn Taylor illustrated by David Sturge (Fiction, Picture Book, Atlantic Canadian) 4 star rating

Amazon says:
“Come spend a sweet summer’s day exploring and enjoying the curiosities and beauties of a rural Newfoundland beach, as seen through the eyes of a little child. Filled with beautiful illustrations and lyrical verse, here is a warm and happy adventure that is both uniquely Newfoundland – as well as universal in its celebration of nature, nostalgia and joyful childhood innocence.”

 photo on poppys beach_zps8rkcawql.jpg
Illustrated with lovely, brightly colored pictures.

On Poppy’s beach seashells I find.
My bucket’s filled with every kind.
I keep the ones I like the best
to hide home in my treasure chest.

Delightful.

4 stars

 

5. NOOKS AND CRANNIES by Jessica Lawson (Fiction, Children’s Chapter) 4 star rating

 photo nooks and crannies_zpsbr9wvwlg.jpgRich Countess Camilla DeMoss issues invitations to her country estate to six children (including Tabitha Crum) from various circumstances, some with a Roald Dahl bent. She tells them that they are all adopted and one of them is her long-lost grandchild, heir to her large fortune.

When the children start disappearing, Tabitha becomes determined to solve the mystery.

Get this into the hands of your mystery-loving ten-to-twelve-year-olds.

4 stars

 

6. A LITTLE LIFE by Hanya Yanagihara (Fiction, Literary) 3.5 star rating

Ostensibly about a group of four college friends, this is really the story of one: Jude who is loved by everyone but struggles constantly with physical and emotional pain.

I know I’m one of the minority here, but I really didn’t like this book. At 720 pages, it’s about 300 pages too long. I mean, how many times do we have to go up and down emotionally with Jude? How many people can love him more than anyone else they’ve met? How much more money can the four make?

 photo little life_zpshbjslzl4.jpgSpoiler alert: The writing is beautiful and for the first hundred pages, I really enjoyed it. But by the time Jude finally committed suicide, I was done.

But, as I said, the writing is beautiful. This excerpt is spoken by Malcom after Jude’s death:

All those answers I had wanted about who and why he was, and now those answers only torment. That he died so alone is more than I can think of; that he died thinking he owed us an apology is worse; that he died still stubbornly believing everything he was taught about himself—after you, after me, after all of us who loved him—makes me think that my life has been a failure after all, that I have failed at the one thing that counted.

Beautifully written, but stultifying long.

3½ stars

 

* * * * *

 

 

MYSTERIES
Vintage short stories and a contemporary thriller comprised my August mystery reading.

 

1. DIAGNOSIS IMPOSSIBLE: The Problems of Dr. Sam Hawthorne by Edward D. Hoch (Fiction, Mystery, Short Stories) 4 star rating

Anyone familiar with vintage mysteries such as those in Ellery Queen or Alfred Hitchcock Magazines has heard the name Edward D. Hoch – and, in fact, many think he is the finest author in this genre. He has received the Mystery Writers of America’s highest honour, the Grand Master Award, and he has been recognized for Lifetime Achievement by the Private Eye Writers of America and the Bouchercon. According to FantasticFiction.com, Ed Hoch is the only author who specializes in the mystery short story to receive such recognition.

 photo diagnosis impossible_zpsbj5crvdg.jpgDr. Sam is a country doctor in what I recall seemed the early part of the twentieth century. There were still horses and carriages, but Dr. Sam did have a nice roadster. Aside from making house calls and doctoring the county, Dr. Sam is an amateur sleuth.

Many of these stories first appeared in one of those fine mystery magazines mentioned above. If you’re a fan of those, you’ll love this. I did.

Thank you to the Puzzle Doctor at In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel for letting me know about this.

4 stars

 

2. THE KIND WORTH KILLING by Peter Swanson (Fiction, Psychological Suspense) 3.5 star rating

I don’t read much psychological suspense, but this got so many rave reviews on the book blogosphere that I gave it whirl.

 photo kind worth killing_zpsd14sykc9.jpgMuch as in Strangers on a Train, businessman Ted and the artist Lily meet in an airport lounge and trade tales of their spouses of which both are tired. They enter into discussions, and they . . . . well, you know that’s the thing: although I enjoyed this well enough at the time, even though it was more commercial than what I usually read, I can’t remember anything about it beyond that. Forgettable, then.

A shout out to Greg at New Dork Review of Books and Kathy at Bermuda Onion who were the first to alert me to this book.

I’ll stick with the original rating, to be fair.

3½ stars

 

How do you handle being the odd man out when a book you don’t like is getting rave reviews from everyone else?

 

P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.

Wednesday Hodgepodge 21Feb18

February21

I thought I should take a break from post after post of monthly reading recaps from three years ago, so I decided to join in Hodgepodge again this week. It’s hosted by Joyce at From This Side of the Pond.

 photo hodgepodge-button_zps0qi9h9lg.png

1. Where do you go when you need some inspiration?

I’ll admit that this question completely stumped me. What kind of inspiration? Inspires me to what? Really, completely stumped.

 

2. What’s under your bed?

This one is easy-peasy. The cord for the electric blanket. Dust bunnies. Maybe some stray tissues. That’s it.

 

3. Thursday, February 22nd is National Chili Day, National Margarita Day, and National Cook a Sweet Potato Day. Of the three which would you most like to celebrate? Is that likely?

I love roasted sweet potatoes, drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper. Think I’ll make a batch tomorrow and celebrate.

 

4. What are you ‘snowed under’ with right now?

Aside from house renovations, it’s deskwork: blog posts, making appointments, arranging the details of our Ecuador trip, transferring info from last year’s calendar to this year’s, paying bills, writing letters. If I didn’t have anything else to do (Paint the bathroom! Volunteer work! Go to the appointments made!) I’d be fine.

 

5. Tell us three to five things that make you feel balanced.

1. Bible reading
2. Volunteer work
3. Exercise
These all make me feel as if I’m not just the desk-sitting pursuer of all things mundane.

  photo Basil-Lemonade_zps5siy3zyf.jpg

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I made arrangements to go visit my daughter & her family, because we’re leaving for Ecuador from Ontario anyway. I planned the visit for my usual ten days because I don’t want to wear out my welcome. Things were perfect.

Then the airline stopped making the flight I booked and changed me to another day & time which didn’t work on either end. The only day that did meant I would be over two weeks at my daughter’s. So I made arrangements with my sister to finish up my 16 day solo stint with her. And, in fairness, when I called WestJet to change my flight again, they were marvellous – friendly and efficient.

What started out as a problem resulted in a positive customer transaction and a bonus visit with my sister. Yay: lemonade!

 

Can you think of a problem situation where you ended up with lemonade instead of lemons?

 

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