My view tonight: And also this: September got off to an autumnal start with a good pour of rain this morning. It makes the sun look all the sweeter. Peter and I are puppy-sitting for a few weeks. This week we're making the transition to having Bella the Dog stay at our place during… Continue reading Puppies and Rain and Other Nice Things
What strikes you first when you begin to read Mãn (Random House, 2014) is its unique format. Each chapter of this slim novel reads like a long poem. The headings are unobtrusively displayed in English and Vietnamese. Most of the chapters are less than a page. They are vignettes, moments. Given their brevity, they are… Continue reading Book Review – Man by Kim Thuy
Today marks four years since the bright, sunny day on which Peter and I got married. While four years is not a monumental anniversary, it is one that deserves to be celebrated. Because I think our marriage deserves to be celebrated. It has been four good years. Four years of getting to know each other… Continue reading Four
This weekend, I got a full on literary experience, compliments of the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts. This is the longest running Canadian Festival of its kind (this weekend marked 32 years) and features a wonderful line-up of Canadian authors. It's always a delightful mixture of big name writers and up and coming… Continue reading Celebrating the Written Arts
I was about halfway through The Bluest Eye (Plume, 1994) when a friend asked me what I was currently reading. "It's pretty heavy, right?" she asked. I glanced at her little girl, munching apple slices next to me at the kitchen counter. "Yeah. It is." Racial tensions, domestic abuse, poverty, incest. Yeah, pretty dark. While… Continue reading Book Review – The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
With a very warm July and early August, our backyard is bursting with fruit. Yesterday was the first cooler day with a little bit of rain and so I decided to devote myself to dealing with some of this. Those are yellow plums, figs, and apples from our yard and a zucchini from our neighbours'.… Continue reading Backyard Harvest
Last weekend, Peter and I took a long weekend trip south of the border - down Seattle way! We headed over Friday evening after work and made it through the Peace Arch by sunset. We were in Seattle together at this same time three years ago so we knew some of the places we wanted… Continue reading Hello August
This is one that's been on my To Read list for a long time. The Shadow of the Wind (Penguin Books, 2001) takes place in Barcelona, following the Second World War. Daniel is ten years old, living with his father, the owner of a bookshop. As the story opens, Daniel is taken for the first… Continue reading Book Review – The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A year ago, I was swimming in this river: But summer locally is not too shabby either: This past weekend, Peter and I explored an area neither of us had previously been to. Francis Point has been a Provincial Park since 2001. A trail takes you along the water and through the trees. Walking through… Continue reading Hike at Francis Point
If you love a good mystery novel - with a private eye who smokes too much, drinks too much, likes to comment on a lady's legs (and calls them "gams"), but always gets the job done - you owe a debt of gratitude to Raymond Chandler. The Big Sleep is Chandler's first novel, published in… Continue reading Book Review – The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
