tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-98560772011-11-27T20:29:13.342-04:00A reading and writing journal, where all sorts of ideas, thoughts, comments can be lodged happilycanaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.comBlogger1851100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-2150104141327081912011-07-13T22:58:00.003-03:002011-07-13T23:48:46.191-03:00

In 2006 I signed up to an application called Bibliophil to keep track of the books I had read, mostly with the book club I belonged to at the time, but also documenting past reading going back even to my childhood. I thought it was a neat idea and had a lot of potential, an online place for a community of book-lovers to share their experiences with books .I have to admit I haven't accessed my

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-61617050847629225412011-03-06T19:20:00.003-04:002011-03-06T20:38:49.818-04:00

Every once in a while I come across an article which inspires me to post here. (I just wished it happened more often!) This is from the National Post and talks about marginalia. When a beam of sunlight fell on her mother-in-law’s red hymn book, Heather Jackson rose from the couch to fetch it from the bookshelf. She and her husband were planning the late woman’s funeral, struggling to decide

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-6414062247051965382011-01-03T12:38:00.003-04:002011-01-03T12:54:37.707-04:00

I personally depend mostly on word of mouth recommendations for books, not website rankings or reviews, but I suppose that many readers do at least see these, and they may have some influence, so the following story is disturbing (but perhaps not surprising).Authors, publishers and agents live and die inside — mostly die — by monitoring their product's position on the Amazon charts, which are

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-43211410408149799572010-12-26T15:55:00.002-04:002010-12-26T16:02:55.409-04:00

This is truly awful. It is supposed to be funny but as a librarian I find it almost offensive.

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-55318873092340331992010-11-20T21:47:00.002-04:002010-11-20T21:49:50.714-04:00

I've heard this before but came across it again. I found it funny even the second time ao I thought I would share it here:Never Argue With A Woman Who ReadsA couple goes on vacation to a fishing resort. The husband likes to fish at the crack of dawn. The wife likes to read. One morning the husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a short nap. Although she isn't

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-86620315041171021952010-11-13T16:01:00.002-04:002011-01-03T12:58:30.225-04:00

I haven't read the book The Sentimentalists which won the Giller, published by our highly esteemed and principled local press . I had to go to the Gaspereau Press website to find out what the book was about since this hasn't been the subject of much of recent the press I have seen The publisher says, Johanna Skibsrud’s debut novel connects the flooding of an Ontario town, the Vietnam War, a

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-71252634825042465342010-11-10T19:09:00.005-04:002010-11-10T19:30:07.861-04:00

Johanna Skibsrud has won the Giller prize with her book The Sentimentalists. Her publisher is The Gaspereau Press a quality, small press just down the road from us in Kentville. They can manage only a tiny run. This has unlocked a whole Pandora's box of trouble for the author and for readers who are clamouring to read the book.Skibsrud bit her lip when Gaspereau co-publishers Andrew Steeves and

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-6145826137855467732010-08-24T14:59:00.002-03:002010-08-24T16:00:50.814-03:00

I have to agree with this list of over rated Canadian authors - with perhaps one exception. I have to admit that I haven't read some of their recent work but that makes the point doesn't it? Mostly I didn't even care for the first book by them that I read!The one exception is Douglas Coupland - I haven't read anything by him, at least I don't think so, so I can't comment. To be fair I should

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-6244655511369154592010-08-11T21:08:00.007-03:002010-08-11T22:07:37.650-03:00

I like books about writers, written by writers, about their journey, usually to some kind of success. I always think I might gain some magic insight from them which would help me get to the next level in my writing.A writer's road isn't easy as we writers, or wannabe writers, know. It is full of potholes, narrow bridges and detours. There are times when we are motivated, times when we are devoid

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-32868935315085322382010-04-17T15:50:00.003-03:002010-04-17T15:57:04.432-03:00

I have a friend who thinks books are passe. I am not of the same mind as I believe there will always be books in some form or another. Books have changed quite a lot since the first ones; technology is about to change the format again now that e-books are here. And libraries want to keep up.The New Brunswick public libraries are planning to start offering e-books in the next few months to allow

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-72304167572017296702010-04-12T22:23:00.005-03:002010-04-12T22:57:37.116-03:00

As an addendum to our last post on wonderful libraries we have to add this one, which is not exactly a library but a Library Parking Garage in Kansas City, Missouri. Not in the same class as the old library interiors but still extraordinary. Note the titles of the books chosen, which are easier to read in the second view.Those shown in the photo - from left to right -Tao Ie Ching by Lao Tsu, The

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-10284594082948149392010-04-08T21:39:00.003-03:002010-04-08T22:52:33.260-03:00

Here is a wonderful site that appeals to several of my (too many) interests. Since I am trained as a Librarian and love books, and also have an interest in history, how could I not be intrigued by this post on Beautiful libraries which I came across a little while ago. It has taken me a while to get around to sharing it.Wouldn't it be wonderful to do a grand tour of even some of these? My hat

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-84244495115670293632009-09-01T19:05:00.004-03:002009-09-01T20:32:41.541-03:00

"Writing is regarded as at most a harmless eccentricity, like an abnormal appetite for marsh greens."I liked this quotation of Ernest Buckler's which I read on this short bio of this Nova Scotian author from the NS archives for the 25th anniversary of his death .I'm embarrassed to say I haven't read one book by Ernest Buckler. I would say his work isn't well known at all although he is described

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1659669366270751842009-07-26T13:17:00.001-03:002009-07-26T13:18:36.482-03:00

The NY Times has a little section which I often enjoy reading -Schott's VocabSchott’s Vocab is a repository of unconsidered lexicographical trifles — some serious, others frivolous, some neologized, others newly newsworthy. Each day, Schott's Vocab explores news sites around the world to find words and phrases that encapsulate the times in which we live or shed light on a story of note. If

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-78030433034567342042009-06-23T23:34:00.004-03:002009-06-24T22:21:38.909-03:00

I have my pet peeves when it comes to grammar and punctuation. I am a fan of Lynne Truss and I have passed on my enthusiasm to our daughter. She has been know to use "The Panda says no" stickers when she sees a misplaced apostrophe. But I have to admit I am sloppy sometimes in my writing and I am always willing to improve so I found the NY Times article, Tangled Passages, on some points of "

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-61034774160755974982009-06-20T19:10:00.002-03:002009-06-20T19:29:27.210-03:00

I was quite a science fiction fan in my youth. I still love science stories and Sci Fi movies, and although I don't read as much science fiction as I used to, Ray Bradbury's name in an article can still attract my attention, especially when it is in connection to libraries. ...among Mr. Bradbury’s passions, none burn quite as hot as his lifelong enthusiasm for halls of books. His most famous

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-30056965447558841452009-06-19T13:38:00.005-03:002009-06-19T15:50:40.755-03:00

As my friends and family, and perhaps my few readers here might know, I am a Jane Austen fan. My daughter is perhaps following in my footsteps; she came across a cute and funny piece and posted the link on her facebook page. It is Pride and Prejudice played out as if the characters had twitter and blog technology. You perhaps have to be at least slightly familiar with twitter to appreciate the

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-90739159591114474962009-03-27T13:44:00.003-03:002009-03-28T09:38:48.710-03:00

You can tell a lot about a person by the books they read. Today we went to buy books at the giant book sale which a local group holds every year, raising money which is put to good use in the community. The bargains are real and I always come away with a big bag full, but I can't buy everything - as much as I might like to- and I do have to make choices. The ones I picked out say something about

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-36847253467207276932009-02-24T21:21:00.005-04:002009-02-24T22:22:43.565-04:00

Is this for real? It is hard to believe there are people in government who have so little sense of proportion. Have the environmental protection people been smoking something that has addled their brains? They want to ban old books because of minute, and we mean very minute, quantities of lead in old illustrations.... under a law Congress passed last year aimed at regulating hazards in children’s

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-76320305095005226922009-01-18T19:39:00.006-04:002009-01-18T20:36:38.483-04:00

" Life is short but Art is long" - as some ancient Greek said once. This has been taken many ways but one way of looking at the meaning is that while a man (or woman- I am not being sexist here) dies, his art (skill, knowledge) can live on beyond him and others build on the work of those before.The artist Wyeth died the other day:The son of famed painter and book illustrator N.C. Wyeth, Andrew

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-36437712944626619682009-01-11T22:17:00.003-04:002009-01-12T12:15:41.926-04:00

A year or so ago the Globe and Mail phoned us up to ask us to renew our subscription which we had let lapse a few years ago. We told them no thank you, there wasn't that much in it that we wanted to read except in the book section, so we only get the Globe and Mail on the weekends. Perhaps we aren't the only ones that have told them that as the G&M have revamped their book section and alleluia,

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-63175812555463902492009-01-02T10:36:00.006-04:002009-01-02T11:14:00.052-04:00

In the Christian Science Monitor which I sometimes look into ( not often enough) there is an article by Kathryn Streeter on reading Shakespeare. She made it a 2007 New Year's Resolution to read a drama a month. It got me thinking about making a reading, and writing, resolution. Since I no longer belong to a book group it seems a good idea to put some discipline into my reading myself, or at least

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-29815653056600002232008-12-08T14:06:00.005-04:002008-12-08T14:50:07.196-04:00

Again I haven't posted for a long while. I have been so sporadic it is embarrassing. I can't use the excuse of my daughter's wedding any more as I did last year, but I have been busy.I signed up for Nanowrimo again this November. I didn't win this time round but I did have a lot of fun attending two write-ins at the coffee shop downtown and I did get 15,000 words down which might be the kernel of

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-73937726572837485472008-09-22T21:45:00.004-03:002008-09-22T22:14:24.374-03:00

I look in on Deborah Gayapong's blog occasionally and this time when I did I found her promoting her new book The Defilers. It sounds like an interesting book and different than a lot of crime or mystery thrillers on the market. It also has not only a Canadian setting which you might expect from a Canadian author (these days anyway) but also a Nova Scotia setting.One reviewer summarises the book

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-22511330566410700692008-09-22T21:38:00.003-03:002008-09-22T21:43:18.296-03:00

Gosh, has it been so long since I posted here? Hard to believe. So much has happened. My daughter's marriage to a very nice fellow was the highlight of the past many months and perhaps explains my absence from this House of All Sorts. So much got put on hold while I planned this very special and important event.And now a new season has started- September is new year for me- so again I will try to

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-25377224045464120892008-05-17T21:30:00.004-03:002008-05-17T21:43:55.158-03:00

After quite a hiatus I am back briefly. I won't be blogging much for another month either since my daughter's marriage is the end of June and I am tied up with that. BUT, I saw this and thought it deserved a post.This morning, I decided to drop down to my local coffee establishment for a breakfast of coffee, eggs, and some morning reading. ...I had a lot of new things, and pre-coffee I’m not up

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-68020615906589520192008-03-14T00:04:00.004-03:002008-03-14T00:38:07.516-03:00

A friend of mine suggested I read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. I picked it up a while ago and had it there on my bedside stack and finally picked it up recently to read. I am glad I did. It has come at time when I am feeling a number of pressures and this book helps.The one idea of the book, a very compelling idea, is that the past is not real - it is past and the future isn't real - it

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-23110070332716606672008-03-02T00:40:00.003-04:002008-03-02T00:46:38.615-04:00

My next book should be this one, based on this review.A deeply consequential, wonder-filled, grand quest for truth, the book revels in beauty, honor and the silent grace of winter. It has a flying white horse; overpoweringly tender love; breathtaking vistas; swoon-inducing language worthy of Blake, Whitman and, yes, Shakespeare; hard-souled villains; bridges that span time as well as rivers; the

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-10392242442343425552008-01-27T18:24:00.000-04:002008-01-27T19:53:07.409-04:00

On Friday we saw the movie Atonement.As this was one of the best books I have read in the past few years (and the other -Saturday was by the same author, Ian McEwan) I was anxious to see it. As always when attending a movie based on a book, I wondered whether it would do credit to the writing or whether it would disappoint. It did not disappoint.It amazes me, thinking about it, how the author

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-51120293509316193812008-01-16T23:07:00.000-04:002008-01-17T00:00:06.563-04:00

I'm reading Michael Crichton's book NEXT. Crichton always takes some scientific "news" and then asks the question that Stephen King advises writers to start with, that is "what if...". What comes after the what if of course is up to the author and makes or breaks the book. In this one Crichton asks - what if genetic "advances" got out of control, or are they already out of control. What if a

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-49961071214870552192008-01-05T19:54:00.000-04:002008-01-05T20:00:27.158-04:00

That is Atonement. The book is still in my top ten list of best books and I MUST see how it is interpreted on film. I like very much the website promoting the movie which I have linked above. It seems to set the mood very well which bodes well, I think, for the movie. Some good clips, too, without giving anything away.

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-15002313091781621342008-01-02T15:34:00.000-04:002008-01-02T16:42:37.443-04:00

I haven't done very well keeping up with this blog have I ? So should I bother making a resolution? I guess it can't hurt. But perhaps I should be more specific than just saying I will post more often here than I did last year. I should say I will post at least once a week. That perhaps is something to aim for although I would hope to do better than that.I got a couple of books as gifts for

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-92006520984713636162007-11-27T20:46:00.001-04:002007-11-27T20:57:01.990-04:00

After my recent post on The Maul and the Pear Tree I came across this article which relates to my thoughts on history and its meaning for the reader. Neil Postman writes, There is no escaping ourselves. The human dilemma is as it always has been, and it is a delusion to believe that the future will render irrelevant what we know and have long known about ourselves but find it convenient to

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-8077070375387306862007-11-26T13:31:00.000-04:002007-11-26T14:29:50.955-04:00

They say that history is valuable to teach us what mistakes not to repeat. I have thought for some time now that what it teaches us instead is that human nature doesn't really change much, that the flaws we see in the present - in individuals, in our community and in the world - have always existed and likely always will. These human weaknesses persist over time although they may present

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-68699566480321937242007-11-13T13:29:00.000-04:002007-11-13T13:32:47.713-04:00

Last week they announced the winner of the Giller Prize so I am too late to enter the Guess the Giller Contest.Those of us who are readers might have loved to have a paid trip to a Literary Festival as well as the autographed set of books on the Giller short list. Did you vote?The Guessthegiller.ca contest ran this year in over 20 public library systems and was promoted through Scotiabank’s 950

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-21187753189684397022007-10-30T21:12:00.000-03:002007-10-30T21:45:25.813-03:00

Sorry to all you faithful readers (all 3 of you)- I have been away. Mostly I have been mentally away, although I was also away physically a couple of times since my last post here in July (hard to believe it was that long ago!).I was focused elsewhere. Not on reading, not on writing, not on ideas but on just getting through "stuff" - mostly other people's "stuff". I just haven't felt I had much

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-82637095543376959312007-07-05T14:45:00.000-03:002007-07-05T14:47:02.267-03:00

I saw this a while ago on you tube and passed it around to some friends who I thought would enjoy it. I think it is so neat I want to post it here.

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-7112550628058383912007-05-29T21:56:00.000-03:002007-05-31T23:29:44.766-03:00

I could have titled this Blogging the Bible but that is the name of David Plotz's contribution to blogdom. The Bible is a great work of Literature, it is the foundation of several religions, it is the history (with all its biases and myths) of a people. It is worth reading. But not many of us read it. As Plotz says we tend to be lazy in the west about our religion and even lazier about reading

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-74582045847708548962007-05-29T21:45:00.001-03:002007-05-29T21:51:39.180-03:00

When my book circle discussed Never Let me Go there was some discussion about whether the scenario imagined by the author would be tolerated in our "progressive" society. One of our members had the rosy view that no, we, our society, would never contemplate such a donor class. I think I mentioned at the time that it was already happening in China where prisoners' organs were being "harvested" but

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-72775455816628382132007-05-16T11:30:00.000-03:002007-05-16T12:57:43.302-03:00

A sad book. Everyone agreed on that.I re-read The Remains of the Day -also a sad book-before reading Never Let me Go and at first I thought the books were not at all similar. But thinking more about the main characters and their "place in life", their dedication and resignation to it, I realised that the attitudes of the products of Hailsham were in many ways like the self abnegating dedication

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-249011773580130602007-05-14T19:23:00.000-03:002007-05-16T11:07:35.032-03:00

... and found what I managed to write for my last writing circle meeting, inspired by Colville's Horse and Train painting. I thought since I had talked about it here I might as well post it.Society’s train of thought is not my thought. The world - friends, relatives, children- are aboard, helpless passengers on that train, Engineered by unwitting enemies, fueled with black lies,

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-5055034721736332422007-04-09T23:28:00.000-03:002007-04-09T23:54:04.376-03:00

Another piece of art that was suggested as an inspiration for our writing group excercise was Colville's Horse and Train. Somehow this appeals to me more although it seems a more difficult subject than the Wyeth. It should be easy to think of a story for Christina. She has been crippled somehow, left to die perhaps some distance away from help and is crawling to this house where perhaps aid or

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1814617822659900162007-04-09T22:46:00.000-03:002007-04-09T23:17:52.752-03:00

This is what I have and I have it big time. My writing drought has been long and prolonged and strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, started after my gargantuan writing effort at Nanowrimo. It is tempting to think I wrote out everything I had and there is no more.I have been thinking about our writing group challenge (for Friday) which is to write something inspired by a piece of art, perhaps

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-3066606264124521412007-03-27T20:39:00.000-03:002007-03-27T22:00:06.109-03:00

In my post a month ago I discussed 3 Day Road and my sense or suspicion that the author had got much of the colour and imagery and even little vignettes for his book from other sources which he had not acknowledged. Bernice Morgan in comparison was assiduous in recognising the material that influenced her writing.In the back of Waiting for Time in her acknowledgements the author writes: "The

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-41980286977661033892007-03-24T14:13:00.000-03:002007-03-27T21:01:24.169-03:00

Waiting for Time was our last book circle book and it was not at all a bad read. This book was a sequel to Random Passage which had been used as a base of the mini series. What came across most clearly in our discussion was the strength and determination given by the author to her character Mary Bundle which was in some contrast, we thought, to the character of Lav who seemed to drift into

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-13953642061382190312007-03-11T20:04:00.000-03:002007-03-11T20:10:59.925-03:00

Would that be interesting? Somehow I don't think so but someone does and if you do then you should attend this event.Word nerds, bring your pyjamas and your procrastination. And don’t forget your thesaurus. Dalhousie University embarks on a unique experiment today designed to expose the usually solitary act of writing. The event, called Write Here in Plain Sight (the apt acronym is WHIPS), is

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-75180857426686693352007-02-20T23:35:00.000-04:002007-02-21T01:00:27.112-04:00

I am of two minds about this book. I started it and liked it immediately, getting quickly into the story and a third of a way into the book. It had an authenticity in most of the parts dealing with the James Bay Cree and vivid and moving descriptions of WWI trench warfare. The author, Joseph Boyden, had included detailed vignettes which were graphic and human which would be difficult to imagine

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-87039945922613983862007-01-23T20:17:00.000-04:002007-02-06T20:34:15.699-04:00

I like more non-fiction as I age. I almost always have one on the go in the stack by my bed. The last one I read before this was A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. It's a great book for people who are interested in science as I am, although it is not really about the science but about the scientists, their flawed humanity, and how science is viewed or scorned or ignored or

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-57420147059183950912007-01-16T21:51:00.000-04:002007-01-19T21:43:55.081-04:00

Ah, good intentions. The Burma Road is paved with them in Amy Tan's Saving Fish from Drowning. This is a book about illusions and unintended consequences. It is about lies we tell ourselves, lies we tell each other, and lies told to us. Life turned into a reality show. Survivor Burma.The title is the clue to this main theme. We justify our actions as doing good for others -saving the fish - but

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-56687260300260032412007-01-02T15:34:00.000-04:002007-01-02T15:36:44.326-04:00

I have resolutions every other day and I don't do any better on those than I do on the ones I make Dec. 31 so I have pretty much given up on New Years resolutions. Which doesn't mean I don't have them. I guess I will just continue to resolve things - like post more on this blog!- and fail or not fail to some degree with them. I might change my blog template if I can figure out how. A new look for

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1668314155395315172006-12-27T13:34:00.000-04:002006-12-27T13:38:10.612-04:00

I thought I was just disorganised but no, I'm creative! My desk tells me so. ...January is now Get Organized Month, thanks also to the efforts of the National Association of Professional Organizers, whose 4,000 clutter-busting members will be poised, clipboards and trash bags at the ready, to minister to the 10,000 clutter victims the association estimates will be calling for its members’

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-19674351594034863432006-12-21T16:15:00.000-04:002006-12-21T17:28:16.898-04:00

I haven't been writing. I feel dry as dust word-wise. I didn't win Nanwrimo this year. I got a few thousand words done and then gave up. I just didn't have the focus this year. They do say the second year is the hardest but I am not happy about it.I haven't been reading that much either. I haven't even commented on our last book circle book which was My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. We did

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-62374071053301887922006-11-10T21:26:00.000-04:002006-11-10T21:38:22.593-04:00

I should have been home writing my 2000 words. Instead I went to a movie. BUT it was a good movie for a wannbe writer to see - Stranger than Fiction which is based on a premise I actually used in one of the short pieces I wrote a couple of years ago, that is, an author who writes and his stories come true.In this movie the author's main protaganist, Harold, an IRS auditor, becomes aware that he

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1162519510797318592006-11-02T22:00:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:56.871-04:00

I am too. But I have signed up for NaNoWriMo again. And I am late so I am already "down" over 3000 words. But ... here I go again aiming for another 50,000 words. Will I get there this year? They say the second year is the hardest. I can believe that. But one foot in front of the other, bird by bird... that's the way to get there. Anybody want to join me?

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1161573556370200792006-10-22T23:31:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:56.632-04:00

I've been away for a couple of days with other things on my mind. I had hoped to get my thoughts on Saturday down before I left, while they were fresh in my mind but I found that there was so much to say that I couldn't possibly manage it.But I must say something about Saturday.It is one of the best books I have read so far this year.It is dense but readable. The author has a lot to say and he

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1160869186947423592006-10-14T20:23:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:55.974-04:00

We just got back from our annual anniversary getaway at our favorite spot. It was a lovely retreat to a riverside chalet with a wood fire to warm us and the sound of the river and a nearby brook to lull us to sleep.It poured rain on the way up so the fall colours were hidden but the foggy shroud obscuring the hills and trees had its own beauty. The power went off about an hour after we arrived

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1159668731885454502006-09-30T23:06:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:55.377-04:00

It is Saturday. A good day to start Saturday by Ian McEwan. I picked it up the other day at Chapters for $10.00 - in hardback! It was the only one on the table so perhaps the last. I have also started The Double Life of Anna Day by Louise Candlish which I am enjoying. It's a Brit book which I tend to like anyway. The author's style reminds me of Lynne Truss somehow but not quite as outlandish -

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1159323070498682312006-09-26T22:03:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:55.148-04:00

It has been a while since I have dipped into a book for a "young reader" as they call them. I guess the last Harry Potter book would be the occasion. No, I lie, it would have been His Dark Materials series. But, anyway, I have zipped through That Girl Lucy Moon by Amy Timberlake and can honestly say that this is a book I would have happily bought my daughter - and I was pretty fussy.Lucy is

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1158174870544974442006-09-13T15:51:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:54.841-04:00

There is a tide in the affairs of menWhich taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;Omitted, all the voyage of their lifeIs bound in shallows and in miseries. (4.3.218)We must take the current when it serves,Or lose our ventures. (4.3.247) Both quotations from Julius Caesar seem somewhat apt for the theme of The Wreckage. Except that sometime it is not a normal tide to be taken but a tsunami which

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1157576355286571492006-09-06T17:49:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:53.738-04:00

My books arrived - ie. the two books I signed up for with the mini book expo for bloggers.They are That Girl Lucy Moon by Amy Timberlake and The Double Life of Anna Day by Louise Candlish. They couldn't have arrived at a worst time in some ways since I have less than a week to finish The Wreckage and of course I want to get at these new ones right away! I will just have to hold my horses, reign

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1157502509825892482006-09-05T21:15:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:53.560-04:00

On the Facts and Arguments page of the Globe this morning there was a piece titled Start something in September [by Lene Anderson] about how Sept. rather than New Year should be the beginning of the year. Strangely I had been thinking about this just the other day then see that it is not an original thought. Not that strange really. I am sure the thought is common.As the writer says "The remnants

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1157500887761367272006-09-05T20:41:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:52.720-04:00

One thing about having 3 books by your bedside. As my hand hovers over them a swift little dialogue goes through my head. "Which one do I want to read tonight? This one? No, not in the mood for that. Perhaps this one. No, this one." The Wreckage has lost out most nights to Small Gods ( which I have almost finished) so I am only 50 pages into it.But now duty calls. I have to finish it by next

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1155869508832177242006-08-17T23:31:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:52.465-04:00

We have ordered a new bookcase for our bedroom. A bigger one. Books are spilling out of the smallish one we have and are stacked in piles around it and around my bedside. I can let go of some books now at Bookmooch [ big decisions- which ones!] or at the booksale our ladies group has every spring but many I can't get rid of, either because I want to read them again, or because I haven't read

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1155268424667393352006-08-11T00:26:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:52.254-04:00

You know those people who borrow books and never give them back. Moochers! Don't you hate that? But what if when you gave them a book you got one back. Neat idea? That's the plan offered by BookMooch. A way to exchange books you've read for new ( to you) books.When you give someone a book, you earn a point and can get any book you want from anyone else at BookMooch. Once you've read a book, you

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1155266435274124682006-08-11T00:20:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:51.933-04:00

Good advice too.

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1154628098625073122006-08-03T14:50:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:51.323-04:00

Or should I say HEATland. G_d it is nice to be back in NS where it is a trifle cooler.Just before I left I discovered the minibookexpo for bloggers and signed up for two books. They weren't the ones I wanted first but having come across the site late there weren't too many left. However, I am anxiously awaiting my (second) choices from what was left on the shelf. They are That Girl Lucy Moon and

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1152712586268454412006-07-12T10:39:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:51.106-04:00

Just heard a radio segment on CBC interviewing Anosh Irani about his new book, The Song of Kahunsha, set in Bombay (Mumbai). With the mass murder there the other day it was particularly timely. I was impressed with what the author said about his book and about events in Mumbai. His comments about the difference between Bombay and Mumbai (its new name) and how the change of name was representative

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1152675617119123292006-07-12T00:11:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:50.898-04:00

I have been reading from The Lynne Truss Treasury the past few nights, a story ( novella?) called Going Loco. Laugh out loud funny. I wonder if Truss's sense of humour is obvious when you meet her in person. I've read two of the others in the Treasury now -With one lousy Packet of Seeds (also very funny) and Tennyson's Gift ( which I didn't care for as much).Truss comes up with the oddest ideas

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1152555659682780012006-07-10T15:13:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:50.668-04:00

If you like books you probably like illustrated books. I do. Photos are alright, I like them for some books like cookbooks or travel books but for fiction obviously photos are out. Not many fiction books are illustrated these days though, with the exception of children's books, and it is a shame. Old books and old illustrations have a real appeal.

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1152235674663242142006-07-06T21:59:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:50.469-04:00

One of my favorite places is a book store but it is also very daunting. SO many books and SO many choices. And every one of them different and interesting in some way. Well, to me anyway. It is mind boggling isn't it the range of human thought? I always have trouble choosing.But today I had a few titles in mind. First I checked on The Wreckage by Michael Crummy - our next Lit Wits book- to see

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1151963665821231052006-07-03T18:43:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:50.233-04:00

I finished The Club Dumas a few nights ago and I have been thinking what to say ever since. I was disappointed by the ending. That is the first thing, but that is not enough. I was disappointed because the book promised more and that cannot just be written off. There is something to be learned- by the author and by me (amateur writer) and that is to finish strong.The Club Dumas finish was hurried

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1151717036973713192006-06-30T21:39:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:49.917-04:00

The book I am reading at the moment, has a lot in common with The Jane Austen Book Club which I read not that long ago. Obviously there is the title: both involve clubs centred on an author. In the case of The Club Dumas the "club" is a mysterious and ultimately sinister force in the book. Both books refer frequently to the author's works and it helps to have read them although it is not

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1151276864014450952006-06-25T20:05:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:49.693-04:00

Now that is productive. I came across this artist's site and it seemed so like the effort I put into my Nanowrimo experience that I had to comment on it. I also like many of the paintings! So here's a plug for Jeremiah

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1150997102556219152006-06-22T13:58:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:49.421-04:00

I enjoy books that have to do with books in some way. Usually they are non-fiction, perhaps about writing or about reading, such as Margaret Drabble's A Writer's Britain; Landscape in Literature. but sometimes they are fiction books. I enjoyed Chasing Shakespeares by Sarah Smith for example about Shakespeare's real identity which involved "reading" clues from his plays and his life.I have come

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1150756245210801312006-06-19T19:27:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:49.152-04:00

Nothing like some photos to brighten up a blog post.

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1150742919264220552006-06-19T15:15:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:48.868-04:00

After all the rain we have had the last few weeks the last few days of warm sunny weather have been wonderful. With a few of the gardening things done ( oh, yes, there is more to do but those chores can wait) I took the time to just sit in the sun with a book and a notebook.I sat enjoying the warmth of the sun, the chirping of the birds and the sibilant sound of the stream running past. I started

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1150412675822693772006-06-15T20:02:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:48.690-04:00

I lost 44 Scotland Street and then I found it again. Yes, I looked for it all over the house and couldn't find it anywhere so I knew I must have left it somewhere and the only place I could have left it was at the sauna, at the excercise club I sometimes (but not often enough) frequent. I finally got myself organised to go in I asked after it and yes, it was still there by the sauna, but with

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1149121090670222962006-05-31T20:41:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:46.059-04:00

We had such a wonderful outing today thanks to an enthusiastic friend and guide. Our fabulous five hiked through an old growth hemlock forest, along the edge of a ravine through which ran a tea coloured stream. There were violets, there were lady slippers, there were waterfalls and moss covered rocks. Along the way we heard the silence punctuated by trickling of water or the song of warblers and

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1148928175757498652006-05-29T15:36:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:45.520-04:00

I'm still wandering down Scotland Street. Will the Peploe be found? Is it really a Peploe.? Will our heroine really fall for the unappealing character Bruce? Will Bertie manage to convince his mother that he really hates learning Italian and how to play the saxophone at the age of 5 and would rather play with trains? Will Bertie's mother drown in the floatariam as I hope?Meanwhile our book circle

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1148425390724422292006-05-23T19:30:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:45.261-04:00

I am enjoying my sojourn so far in Edinburgh. There is a litle map in the front of the book. Don't you love that? I think AA Milne must have started it. Wasn't there a map of the 100 Acre Wood?It makes one feel you know where you are. There are also illustrations by Iain McIntosh - simple pen and inks. They too give one a feeling of knowing the place.I am getting to know the inhabitants, as did

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1147830810813975622006-05-16T21:50:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:44.943-04:00

Well, enough of Austen. And Fowler's amusing take on Austen.So what tickles my fancy next? I looked at the stack of books at my bedside waiting their turn, lifted this one, turned that one over, picked another and looked at the first page, the preface, and said yes, this one! 44 Scotland Street by Alexander McCall Smith. All the other books sighed and shrank back into dusty oblivion in the corner

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1147475080498633722006-05-12T19:55:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:44.711-04:00

We met the other day in an idyllic setting to discuss The Jane Austen Book Club. One of the discussions was a bit of a revelation to me, in that it articulated something which I immediately recognized as something I had felt but not brought to the surface of my thinking. It came about because one of the members said " We tend to see Austen as a bit of a period piece...the costumes, the history."

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1147202085235619572006-05-09T13:06:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:44.336-04:00

My book club meets tomorrow and I am no where near finished my book by book, chapter by chapter analysis. Ah well. But I can at least do Prudie. She is sorely tempted, isn't she? Her wonderful, sensitive, romantic and caring husband seems dull, uninteresting, too familiar." What was wrong with a solid kind of guy? Did you want a marriage full of surprises, or did you want a guy you could depend

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1146964801965882662006-05-06T22:13:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:43.933-04:00

I have been away but I have been reading. I finished The Austen Book Club and read Mansfield Park; it is the one Austen book I had never read! This was a good time to make up this deficiency. It is perhaps the most moralistic of Austen's creations, but also the most profound, especially in its writing, I think.The main theme as always is courtship. How different types "choose" their partners. In

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1145577168195449722006-04-20T20:45:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:43.362-04:00

In Sense and Sensibility Austen contrasts two sisters and their very different styles of courtship- one, Marianne- all emotion, the other, Elinor- all common sense and decorum. Since this Austen novel is paired with a focus on Allegra who is meteoric, passionate, emotional, and self centred we are encouraged to compare her to Marianne ( who is a secondary character in S&S).In S&S Marianne falls

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1145404294551708092006-04-18T19:22:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:42.621-04:00

Here are thoughts I have had about the very modern society of the Jane Austen Book Club in contrast with the characters and society of Austen's books, and particularly to begin with, the novel Emma.Some questions about Emma. What if Emma had not realised her faults and her true affections and not fallen eventually for Knightly, or if Knightly had not been so constant in his affection for Emma and

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1145154989093123242006-04-15T23:32:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:42.330-04:00

I have found the synopses of the Austen books in the back of The Jane Austen Book Club to be woefully insufficient. Here is a full summary but in addition I want to give my take on Emma emphasising the points which I think are most pertinent to The Jane Austen Book Club.The question in Emma is “What is love”. It is not so much about marriage as it is about "courtship”. How does a woman determine

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1145154674965439782006-04-15T23:30:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:41.998-04:00

I seem to be having some trouble getting my posts to appear properly( in IE only- no problem in Foxfire or mozilla based browser) . Trying to sort it out.

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1144115328376695522006-04-03T22:45:00.000-03:002006-11-10T20:59:41.169-04:00

I realised that I don't have copies of all of Austen's books ( something for me to watch out for at the up-coming book sale!) However, I have discovered that they are on line! Thank you Project Gutenberg! Since it has been a while since I have read Emma or Sense and Sensibility I can refresh my memory with a few keystrokes! Wonderful.He was not an ill-disposed young man,unless to be rather cold

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1143946341016516292006-04-01T22:05:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:40.464-04:00

I like this book. I like it very much. It could fall apart I suppose, but it is quirky, it is holding my interest and it is making me think. First about Emma because that is the book the book club focuses on in the first session ( March -how about that?) but in which we mainly meet the cast of 6 book club characters through the very acerbic "group" narrator and we get some of Jocelyn's and

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1143598536574101702006-03-28T22:05:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:40.170-04:00

Our next book for my book circle is The Jane Austen Book Club. I hope this book lives up to my hopes and expectations. I wanted to read it because A) I love Jane Austen and it gives me an excuse to delve into Austen again B) it is another "book club" book. Having read Reading Lolita in Tehran I thought it would be a good contrast for discussion. C) the premise of a book club centred on Jane

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1143592875019097122006-03-28T20:10:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:39.896-04:00

Our LitWits met today and we tore into Richard Wright's Adultery. We didn't tear it apart but rather dove into the questions raised by the author.On the whole I think we agreed it was a good readable book with much in it to think about. Some thought it better than Clara Callan as I did ( but at least one thought the reverse) The title put some of our members off initially. One member had several

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1143057893695118602006-03-22T16:02:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:39.575-04:00

What stories/myths do I live by? What books have laid down paving stones I have followed in my life, or hope to follow? This was a question asked of herself by my friend "Mamie" in her Meanderings.I had to think about this quite a bit but it was easier when I thought about the books I like to re-read or that I remember vividly from childhood. They must have meant something for me to be so

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1142810255655836142006-03-19T19:06:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:38.766-04:00

This character Wright has created...what to think of him. Self centered or what. Has he yet really felt sorry? Yes, he has said he is sorry, and he is for what it has done to his comfortable life. Yes, he is sorry in a detached kind of way for Denise's mother. The author seems to be trying to show that Denise was the instigator of the affair. As if that absolved Daniel in any way. It doesn't. I

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1142612844432425722006-03-17T12:20:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:38.431-04:00

I've just added "my library" from Bibliophil.org See the button in the left column. I started with recent books discussed in our LitWits book circle. I intend to add more from that list and then add more of my bookshelf and then a wish list. I often hear about a book and say- I'd like to read that- and then forget about it. This way I won't forget! I guess it's my librarian background that makes

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1142464981784211882006-03-15T19:22:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:38.114-04:00

Just found out about this site. Neato. Going to look into this. Oh and now this one too oh oh,now I have to choose.

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1142464270751902692006-03-15T19:00:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:37.721-04:00

I'm into Adultery. Perhaps I should clarify that... I have finally started Richard Wright's book. I have to admit, it has grabbing opening section. I am just into the part where he has to go home and face his family.I only have a couple of niggling complaints, so far. Is it really believable that Daniel and Denise would have a quickie in the car by the side of the road rather than go back to

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1141596848713060772006-03-05T18:07:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:37.348-04:00

I am wading through Lynne Truss's second comic novella in the Lynne Truss Treasury entitled Tennyson's gift. I think I would like it if I was as knowledgeable as LT is about Tennyson and Dodgeson, Ellen Terry and everyone connected with that circle, which obviously the author is. It would be very witty I am sure if I was in the know. I loved her first one in the anthology which required only a

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1141008219360758892006-02-26T22:32:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:36.920-04:00

I was terribly impressed by Andrew Steeves who came to talk to our University Women's club members about Gaspereau Press. I knew about this local publishing house of course, that is I knew it existed but I didn't know "what it was about" if you know what I mean. I didn't know that the owners/publishers have a real passion for the book as an art object and a penchant for collecting old printing

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856077.post-1141006389122787372006-02-26T22:00:00.000-04:002006-11-10T20:59:36.723-04:00

My writing circle meets here on Tuesday. The topic we were to be inspired by was "travel" or "a trip". I have not been inspired. Not by our trip away, not by the contrasting pictures I posted, not by Ami's success ( I really hoped that would get me going) not by my reading, not by anything.Sitting down to write this I saw the train station photo I posted and I thought ... there is no train at the

canaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676078694517781563noreply@blogger.com0