Life: Throwing a Low-Waste Birthday Party

We are not a zero-waste family but we are always striving to produce less waste. In our daily life I think we are doing okay though there is of course room for improvement. When I started attempting to make changes to reduce our plastic-usage and our general garbage creation, I noticed one major source of… Continue reading Life: Throwing a Low-Waste Birthday Party

Book Review: Agnes, Murderess by Sarah Leavitt

Agnes, Murderess - Sarah Leavitt (Freehand, 2019) This graphic novel explores the story of Agnes McVee, an elusive story of a woman who kept a boarding house in the Cariboo and allegedly killed more than fifty people. Historical evidence for her existence in scant but a legend has grown up around the story of this… Continue reading Book Review: Agnes, Murderess by Sarah Leavitt

What I Read – February 2020

Read: The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant - Michel Tremblay (Talonbooks, 2008) The No-Cry Sleep Solution - Elizabeth Pantley (McGraw-Hill, 2020) Bleak House - Charles Dickens (W.W. Norton & Company, 1977) The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick (Mariner Books, 2011) The Man Who Saw Everything - Deborah Levy (Hamish Hamilton,… Continue reading What I Read – February 2020

Pearl is 5!

This week our Pearl turned 5! She is feisty and goofy, hilarious and serious. She loves to follow (and enforce) rules. She likes clear boundaries and expectations and so, I hope, will thrive in school this coming fall. She likes being in charge (classic oldest sibling) and is quite competitive. She is a true introvert… Continue reading Pearl is 5!

Book Review: Last Impressions by Joseph Kertes

Last Impressions - Joseph Kertes (Viking Canada, 2020) I received an Advance Readers' Copy of this book. All opinions are my own. My overall impression of Last Impressions (see what I did there?) is that this is a story that has been told before. And so I found myself thinking about why we tell stories,… Continue reading Book Review: Last Impressions by Joseph Kertes

Book Review: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Bleak House - Charles Dickens (W.W. Norton & Co, 1977) A 500+ page book with a focus on an obscure aspect of 19th century British law doesn't exactly sound gripping and yet Dickens brings it all to life in a story filled with humour and emotion. In many ways, all of Dickens' best elements are… Continue reading Book Review: Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Book Review: The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy

The Man Who Say Everything - Deborah Levy (Hamish Hamilton, 2019) It's hard to know how to talk about this book. Divided into two parts, there is a sort of reveal halfway through and that becomes clearer as the book progresses to the end that makes it clear what this book is about and what… Continue reading Book Review: The Man Who Saw Everything by Deborah Levy

Book Review: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick (Mariner Books, 2011) While I found Philip K. Dick's work of post-war speculative fiction interesting, I can't quite say that I enjoyed it. Set in 1962 (also its year of publication), the book examines a possible world and life in America if the Axis powers… Continue reading Book Review: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

Life: Valentine Day and Other Excitement

Actually, this post has nothing to do with Valentine's Day other than that today is, in fact, that day and that means we are halfway through February. Not sure how that happened so quickly when January lasted roughly three hundred days. January hike We did fit in some fun in January though, even as we… Continue reading Life: Valentine Day and Other Excitement

Book Review: The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant – Michel Tremblay

The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant - Michel Tremblay (Talonbooks, 2008) This Quebecois classic takes place in a single day - 2 May 1942 - and mostly on one street. Working class Montreal, three years into World War Two. This is a Francophone neighbourhood where it just so happens that seven women are pregnant… Continue reading Book Review: The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant – Michel Tremblay