January 4, 2015 - When it Works Out

Today just kind of worked out...  We were able to get out for our run, grab a beverage and pie from the always fabulous Gipsy Kitchen, play scrabble in the sun, read a good book, and then head to the beach with the dogs to cap it all off.  No complaints (except the excessive vowels I drew in our scrabble game)!

January 3, 2015 - Still Life with Breadcrumbs

This was the title of the book I read today, but also kind of how the day felt.  It was a day where we lingered close to home for the most part and while it wasn't the most exciting day in the world, it was kind of satisfying and the dogs loved it!

The Day After New Year's is My Favorite Stat Holiday

I'm trying an experiment and am going to try and document something about our lives every day this year.  Granted I've already missed January 1st, so....everything else is gravy as technically I've already failed.

Today is January 2, 2015.  Upon arriving in New Zealand seven years ago, I would soon come to realize that they had one of the best named holidays ever.  Essentially, January 2 is known as The Day After New Years's and is officially a stat holiday.  I love it because someone realised they wanted a day off, but couldn't be bothered to go so far as to create an actual name.

At any rate, today was a fabulous day that I am glad qualifies as a stat.  We did so much...  Started the day with a water front run, headed up to Hemi Matengi Scenic Reserve for a new and glorious hike high above sea level, and then spent four hours talking to our good friends from Canada.  Capped the day with a late meal of maki and then off to bed so that we can do something similar tomorrow (this time with puppies in tow).

Book that made me laugh out loud

For me, "The Rosie Project" definitely comes to mind here.  I loved the way that Don Tillman was in many ways "the straight man" because he was unaware that his behaviour was unconventional.  His observations about people's BMIs and his commitment to science at all costs were absolutely classic.  I'm hoping that Graeme Simison can once again hit one out of the park with his new book "The Rosie Effect".

Book with one of the best and most surprising twists

Obviously I can't say too much here, but suffice it to say that Ann Patchett in State of Wonder set up a real doozy of a surprise (or two) in this book!  If you look being thrown for a loop, pick this one up!

Book You're Most Embaressed to Say You Liked

I went through this weird phase after finishing my Masters where I wanted to read fluff and it was the era of chick lit.  One of the books that I found myself enjoying (but no longer would) is Confessions of a Shopaholic.  While the main character was somewhat endearing, there was really just no substance to the book.  For me, this book is now too light for even a beach read!

Best Book I've Read in the Past 12 Months

I'm going to (once again) cheat a little and choose two books here: one fiction and one non-fiction.

For fiction, it is The Golem and the Jinni.  This book was amazing in a number of ways.  It was a plot-driven page turner, it was completely unlike anything else I'd read, and the character development of both main and side characters was amazing.  I'll be recommending this book far and wide.

In the non-fiction category, I've chosen Spillover, which explores how viruses (mainly) can be transmitted from animals to humans.  Quammen explores this phenomenon in such a way that I could barely put this book away at night.  I loved learning about the science, as well as the scientists working to understand how this "spillover" from animals to humans had happened.  It's an amazing read - even for people who don't normally read non-fiction.

Favorite Childhood Book

Even though it scared the crap out of me, this is the one book that has stuck with me through the years!  Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss does an amazing job of invoking childhood terror at the idea of this goop taking over the planet.  I had the audio book (on record - yes I'm that old) and could never get very far in before I had to shut it off.  I suspect the narrator may have been Boris Karloff, which perhaps explains my terror. A book that creates such an intense reaction has to be considered a favorite!  I want to books to have an impact on me and this one most certainly did.

A Favorite Author

I adore Ann Patchett.  I never fail to be enthralled by her novels, with her most recent "State of Wonder" being an aboslute favourite. I felt that she captured the essence of the Amazonian jungle so perfectly and you didn't want to put this book down it was so perfectly executed.  She has written some non-fiction, which I haven't picked up but I look forward to trying them to see if they match the caliber of her novels.

Favorite Quote

Elizabeth Hay is such a vivid writer and this is one of my favorite quotes (even though the book itself didn't do it for me).

I left the library and bicycled home through a city of tulips, thanks to a grateful Dutch queen.  Every year they bloom, then lose their heads to an army of black squirrels that go about them like little guillotines, decapitating, decapitating.

I can just imagine this in my mind and it makes me smile.  Squirrels rule!

Book I'd Most Like to Live In

This is a tough one for me as I tend to like reading books where the characters struggle with big problems.  It is the drama in these books that makes them interesting for me.  That said, not sure that I'd actually want to live with all this drama.  Would I really want to live in New York when Polio was flourishing as in Philip Roth's Nemesis.  Possibly not.  There is a spot in one Australian book though that I'd certainly love to visit.  I read Utopian Man a couple years ago now and it took place at the beginning of the 20th century in Melbourne.  The main character (Cole) creates a magical bookstore filled with all sorts of curiosities, including live music, a conservatory and a tea salon.  Visitors to the bookstore were encouraged to sit and browse the books at their leisure (ahead of his time I'd say).  His vision was inspired and I would love to have seen it in person.  The fact that it is based on a real place, makes this all the more intriguing.

Author I Wish People Would Read More

I'm going to cheat a little here and just say "read more Canadian authors".  There are some amazing ones out there and I don't think they all get the readership they should, from David Adam Richards to Michal Crummey to Kathleen Winter to Elizabeth Hay to Andrew Westoll.  There are some talented Canadians out there.  Give there books a go!

Book to Read When You're Sick

In honour of my cold, I thought I'd write about which book would work really well to read when one is sick.  For me, it would likely be the political satire entitled Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis.  I think this one would work well as it is funny (gets your mind off being sick and feeling sorry for yourself), and is also quite easy to read (doesn't require too much of the fuzzy brain).  So, when you're feeling under the weather, make it more tolerable with Best Laid Plans.  The Rosie Project is a close second here!

Most Aspirational Character

I'm going to use this post to also review a recent book that I read.  So, I recently finished Beautiful Mystery, which is part of the Inspector Gamache series.  It followed Gamache and his second in command Beauvoir to a remote monastary where a murder had been committed.  Relationship-wise, there was also a great deal going on between the two police officers and this offered a complexity that isn't always evident in these books.  Despite that, this wasn't my favorite of this series as I really missed the characters from Three Pines who always add a certain jocularity to the proceedings.  This book did remind me however, of a character whom I would love to be more like.  Inspector Gamache is intelligent and successful, but what I think makes him truly special and aspirational is his kindness.  He looks out for the underdogs and brings them under his wing and he only sees the worst in people when its actually there.  Some would say his faith in people makes him naive, but I think the world could do worse than to have a few more people like him in it.

Book that made me cry

My nickname is the vulcan, so the short answer to this question is none.   That said, I can recognize when a book is touching and Annabel by Kathleen Winter is one book that can pull at the heart strings.  Annabel/Wayne is a transexual who had a male identity foisted upon her at birth.  As she grew, it became evident that her female side was much stronger.  The struggles that Annable/Wayne encounter due to prescribed gender boundaries are tragic.

Most Disappointing Book

I often wonder if things are the most disappointing when your expectations are set really high (I suspect this makes total sense!).  I had just finished reading Alyssa York's Fauna and was amazed at her talent as a writer.  I wanted to read more!  I picked up Effigy and expected to be dazzled.  Oddly, it was about Mormon taxidermists, but in the hands of a talented author, this could work.  Right?  Wrong!  This book plodded along with relentless details about the stuffing of animals, coupled with the dramas of multiple wives.  I finished it as I kept waiting for the point where it would turn and be fantastic.  Didn't happen and I now live in fear of future Alyssa York novels.   Perhaps I just need to pay closer attention to the topic next time.

As an aside, I wonder if this is why I'm reluctant to start my second Sarah Water's book Fingersmith (as mentioned yesterday).  Perhaps I have found a second hypothesis.

Book that I've wanted to read for a long time, but still haven't

A few years back I read The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters and I was enthralled.  I immediately thought, I've got to get my hands on some more of Sarah Waters' books.  The obvious choice was Fingersmith, which had rave reviews.  I remember going to the library a couple of times and almost signing it out, but there copies looked just a little too grungy (Howard Hughes and I have a bit in common when it comes to our germ-phobia).  So, when I got a Kindle (almost two years ago!), Fingersmith was one of the first books that I bought.  Have I read it yet you ask?  No!  I can't quite figure out the delay.  I did go through a brief phase where I felt I didn't enjoy e-books as much as physical books, but I'm over that now.  My latest hypothesis is that I loved The Little Stranger so much that I don't want to be disappointed.  Like Lonesome Dove though, I will finish this before the end of the year and that's a promise!!

Favorite Classic Book

I'm going to reach way back into history and select Little House on the Prairie as my favorite classic book.  I still have so many fond memories of reading the Little House series (possibly solidified by the TV show).  I feel like this book has informed my lifetime reading preferences in many ways.  I'm still a sucker for books about the immigrant experience in any form it might take.  I love the uncertainty that comes in these novels, where the characters are constantly surprised by their new experiences.

A Book I Thought I Might Not Like But Ended up Loving

Let's be clear,  I don't fancy myself a reader of westerns, but when the Sisters Brothers started getting rave reviews, I thought perhaps I should work on overcoming my prejudice towards this genre.  I have to say though, I went into this book with a fair bit of trepidation and didn't expect to like it nearly as much as I did.  Canadian author Patrick Dewitt did a brilliant job of injecting humour into what otherwise could have been a fairly bleak novel.  The image of this "black hat" cowboy becoming slightly undone by a toothache was absolutely priceless!  And I kind of liked that there was a character named Kermit :).  Some credit should possibly go to the Coen Brothers, who may have warmed me slightly to westerns earlier with the brilliant movie True Grit (but the Sisters Brothers was my first book)!  Showing how open-minded I now am towards westerns, I plan to read Lonesome Dove before the year ends.  Thanks Patrick Dewitt for opening my mind.

Most Over-Rated Book

Everyone seems to love The Secret History by Donna Tartt, going on and on about its brilliance.  That was not my experience at all!  My blog entry from the spring sums up my feelings on this one perfectly.  I scored it a 1/5, while the average on Good Reads was 4.05.  How????  Also, how did this come from the same mind as The Gold Finch, which I really enjoyed.