I Am Not a Musophobist

How's that for a word? I will save you the trouble of consulting your dictionary and tell you it means I am not a person who dislikes or mistrusts poetry. Au contraire!

Admittedly it is not my go to area of reading but I have come to appreciate it more in  recent years. Back in 2013 my beloved dog, Ivy passed away. Here she is:

Not long afterwards I came across a book of poems called Dog Songs, The writer was someone I'd never heard of before called Mary Oliver. Little did I know I was about to read the works of a Pulitzer Prize winning poet! Dog Songs is a love letter to our four-legged friends and speaks to the special relationship we have with them. I used the book as a grief journal, sometimes simply penciling in "Yes!" at something Ms. Oliver wrote. Other times I wrote more. It was very cathartic for me.

(Sorry if this is illegible - it's a personal indulgence to put it here in order for me to remember that I did this on that day when my memory is totally shot.)

I have gone on to read more of Mary Oliver's poetry.

I will end with a quote from Mary Oliver's Dog Songs. 

"What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this be like without dogs?"

Isn't reading a wonderful thing?
Penny

The Hangover

Yes, I recently suffered a book hangover. The funny thing is I feel like the book consumed me and not the other way around! A really delicious novel like this one inclines the reader to chew on the plot, savor the words and enjoy the characters as if they were delectable morsels.

The book at fault was A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara. Although a little dark and depressing at times, and deals with some distasteful subject matter, it nonetheless swept me up into the lives of the characters, particularly Jude and Willem. I won't give anything away but I have to say I found the ending oddly satisfying. I don't know if others would agree? A true book hangover enveloped me and it was a couple of days before I could pick up another novel to read. Even then I had to make sure it was a lot lighter than A Little Life!

This book gave me a lot to think about. It is indeed a bonus if a work of fiction can teach you something. Before reading A Little Life I knew absolutely nothing about the  practice of 'cutting'. I'm not sure one's life is enhanced with this knowledge but I have to admit that I found it fascinating and in the context of the novel somewhat understandable.

Another thing I experienced from reading Yanagihara's novel was an insight that struck me personally. The character Harold tells us, "You have never known fear until you have a child" and goes on to say that every day after you become a parent you live with fear for them, the biggest one of course being death. When that horrible event occurs "you feel everything you'd expect to feel" and then something else happens.

Having dealt with the death of a son, an only child, I sat up and took notice of what Harold says next. My husband and I have often wondered how we have survived and why we continue to find some moments of happiness in life despite our terrible loss. While I know there is more than one reason that accounts for this, the author's words for what happens to a parent, upon the death of a child, rang very true for me:

     "But here's what no one says - when it's your child, a part of you, a very tiny but nonetheless                unignorable part of you, also feels relief. Because finally, the moment you have been expecting,

     been dreading, been preparing yourself for since the day you became a parent, has come.

     Ah, you tell yourself, it's arrived. Here it is.

    And after that you have nothing to fear again."

Penny

A Two Star Read

Hello readers,whoever you are,

Here I am back after a month long holiday hiatus! And grumbling again to boot!

I wrote previously about my stingy star ratings when it comes to appraising books. I feel somewhat guilty about giving a book only two stars. Perhaps I'm afraid the author may get wind of it and wonder what they did to displease me. Dream on Penny! I think not!

I recently read an e-book that doesn't appear to be available in print. That possibly accounts for the fact that though it was spell-checked, it was never properly edited. The title is Domestic Departures - A Mid-Life Crisis Safari, written by Dana Atkinson.

I do wish I hadn't read about the lack of editing before I tackled the book. I think I noticed each and every grammatical error and I am hardly an expert in that field! Sorry to say but this accounts for my low rating.

I suppose this makes you want to run to your device of choice and download this book without further ado? I thought not! But if you can get over the grammatical shortcomings it is actually a pretty interesting read on a subject near and dear to me - African safari. It is also a personal journey for the author seeking some clarity in her life and I do think she ultimately finds that.

I believe that it is not possible to visit Africa and not have your life changed in some meaningful way. Sure the wildlife viewing and natural beauty are unforgettable but interacting with the African people is also inspiring. I have travelled a little in my life and no location has ever touched my heart and soul as much as the African continent. I suspect there may be more blogs in the future that touch on my love of all things Africa!

Penny

Bogani Camp, Kenya, October 2014

Book Boo-boos

I like to listen to podcasts when I'm walking or biking and naturally some of these are book related. Go figure! My current favourite is Book Riot, however recently I listened to a couple of World Book Club presentations from the BBC. An author is interviewed and then answers questions from either the studio audience or callers from around the world. The last one I heard had Marian Keyes as the guest. I guess I'm a day late - I should have written about this well-known Irish author when it was St. Patrick's Day!

In any event this blog post isn't really about the author. I read and enjoyed a couple of her books several years ago. With this in mind I picked one up to leaf through during one of my all too frequent trips to B&N. This is what I found:

"What the heck is this?", I said to myself, "Some newfangled print designed to further vex sight challenged senior people like me?". I then took the offensive book up to the counter to ask a bookseller if this were some sort of printing error. "I believe so", she said. "I've never seen anything like it before." I asked permission to take a photo and so there it is above with the Ruth Reichl book I eventually purchased that day. As I left the counter I couldn't help but think there are probably more of those misprints lurking unnoticed in bookstores and libraries. 

As to the Ruth Reichl book, My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life, it also turned out to be a book boo-boo. I wasn't aware of this until I got it home and started to read. There is nothing wrong with the content. I loved Ms. Reichl's earlier memoirs, Tender at the Bone, Comfort Me With Apples and Garlic and Sapphires. This recent endeavour does not disappoint. The problem is it is actually a cookbook as well with some beautiful accompanying photos, but, the book itself does not open like a proper cookbook should. Very frustrating! I wouldn't be surprised to see this publishing error addressed in future reprints. I still recommend it but perhaps one should wait for a better edition?

Penny

E-Readers

In case you haven't noticed the age of technology is upon us. New gadgets appear regularly. There are many e-readers on the market.  I have used the Sony e-reader, the Kobo and the Kindle. The Kindle is my favourite mostly because of its built-in 3G feature which means even in the absence of wifi I can still instantly download a book. This has come in handy at the beach and at airports before wifi was widely available. I also prefer being hooked up to Amazon rather than a bookstore. I suspect Amazon will be around longer plus I can sync with audible.com.

For me personally I don't think anything will ever replace the feel of a real book but I concede there are some advantages to reading electronically and they are as follows:

E-readers are environmentally friendly - No trees need be sacrificed for an e-book, however, the worst thing is knowing how many books are thrown away with gay abandon!

Text can be enlarged to a comfortable font - think of the savings on cheaters!

You can buy books almost immediately - this might be a curse? Instant buyer remorse anyone?

You can lighten or darken the screen according to the conditions - no turning on the bedside light and disturbing the snoring spouse who is probably disturbing you which is why you are awake in the middle of the night reading.

They are lightweight and portable - I'm looking at you, War and Peace. You can take 100's of books on vacation with you, of course why would you want to?

You can carry them easily in a purse or pocket - very handy for waiting rooms where the most up-to-date magazine is 1987 Family Circle.

They are probably more sanitary than a pawed over library book - let's have a Gordon Ramsay Hotel Hell black light on them - yuck!

No bookmarks required - some people use odd scraps of paper, or, horror of horrors, they fold down corners on books!

The e-reader cover hides what you're reading - why should that be an issue for you? Hmm....

A lot of e-books are cheaper than the printed versions - Did you know you can buy the entire Tarzan of the Apes collection for $1.99? - how do I know that?....someone told me, honestly!

You can add notes and highlights without defacing anything - I am a bona fide defacer but I use pencil to do so. Does that count?

Happy E-reading!

Penny

Future museum artifacts?

Herman Wouk at 100

My favourite reading place

When I was a teenager or young adult there were a few books I read that I have since revisited because they left such an impression on me the first time. Gone With the Wind, Dr. Zhivago, Winds of War and its sequel War and Remembrance, are a few of those.


I was browsing the local Barnes and Noble the other day when I came across Sailor and Fiddler, Reflections of a 100 Year-Old Author, by Herman Wouk. I'm not sure I knew he was still alive, let alone how old he was.

It's a very short memoir, especially considering his long life, but what a treat it was to read. It doesn't contain much personal detail, focusing mostly on his literary career. He started out wanting to write comedy but says the war years influenced him to take on more serious subject matter. Wouk refers to literature as a "mug's game". One tidbit I found interesting was that he worked on more than one book at a time. For me, that's a validation that it's okay to read more than one at a time!

He talks about the TV mini-series based on Winds of War and War and Remembrance and how he and his wife Sarah, ( also referenced as BSW or Betty Sarah Wouk, who was also his agent!) wanted approval over what got advertised during its broadcast. They also did not want anything added to the films that couldn't be found in the novels. They would never have endorsed a Hollywood movie as they thought there was too much content for one film. I wish Herman Wouk had expressed his opinion on Robert Mitchum as Pug who was considered at the time to be a little long in the tooth for the role. I loved Robert Mitchum in anything so it worked for me!

The author briefly mentions his first born son, Abe, who drowned in a swimming pool when he was 5. He's never written of this incident before. Not surprisingly he says that he and Sarah never really did get over it. Abe is a "radiant memory" to his father and when Wouk dies he will be buried on one side of Abe. Sarah is already on the other side, having passed away a few years ago at age 90.

Wouk considered writing an autobiography at one time but Sarah told him he wasn't "that interesting a person". I think she was wrong. Thankfully he has journals going back to 1937 and has given permission to his surviving sons to use them as they see fit after he is gone.

In the book's conclusion Wouk refers to himself as a "cheerful centenarian". What a blessing to achieve 100 years and still be cheerful! And he has written this book. Amazing! I wish you many more cheerful and productive years Mr. Wouk.
Penny

"All You Need is Ove"

I wish I could take credit for the catchy title but I must confess I filched it from the back cover of my latest read. It was A Man Called Ove, originally written in Swedish by Fredrick Backman. What a book!

Here we are, six or seven weeks into 2016 and I may very well have just read my favourite book of the year! 4.5 stars folks - and from a historically frugal star giver.

Where do I start? For one thing the main character is truly unforgettable, a quintessential curmudgeon with a heart of gold. Then there is the underlying romance which rates up there with all the Romeos and Juliets you can think of in literature. There are many other relationships throughout displaying love in all its many forms. I couldn't put it down but then I had to put it down to prolong the reading. I didn't want it to ever end.

I read it at the beach but it is not a beach book per se (at least not the way I think of that genre). It is extremely well written and often very funny. A lady came up to me and asked my how it was as she belonged to a book club and wondered if it might make a good choice. I hope no one noticed the tears streaming down my face towards the end. Don't be put off by that - it was a happy sad, if that makes any sense!

Here's a passage that shows the author's cleverness with words;

     "Cat out! No animals in cafe!" Amel slashes at the consonants
      so that they hop about like naughty children caught inside
      the sentence."

Don't you love that?
Penny

Beach books

Sometimes I have a need to read something that won't tax this old brain of mine too much. The type of book that most people appear to be reading as I look around and spy on them at beaches. I have yet to see someone reading Shakespeare. I see lots of mysteries or legal thrillers or romances.

Full disclosure here. I read more than one book at a time. I know - my bad. Anyway a beach book fits in nicely with whatever I'm reading even if I'm not at the beach. I seldom pull quotes from these types of books or have to consult a dictionary. This is not to insult them. It's just that they are mostly composed with simple, concise language and a story that moves along nicely.

Some of my favourites have been works by Maeve Binchey and Elizabeth Berg. I tend to like British authors, mostly female and I like thrillers too and authors like Dean Koontz.

I just finished This is Your Life, Harriet Chance! written by Jonathan Eviston. The narration is like that of the old TV show when the host recalls moments and people from the guests' pasts. It mostly works though I think it could get on your nerves were the book any longer. We learn some shocking things about Harriet's past. She is also visited by a ghost like figure that is her deceased husband. (Surprisingly I didn't mind the author including that character in that manner.) She is carrying his remains in a yogurt container to disperse while on an Alaskan cruise. Overall I liked it but like I said I'm glad it was short!

By the way - I did not read it at the beach.
Penny
This sunbather appears to have put down his book for a little afternoon siesta!

Sanibel Island, 2014

The Illegal by Lawrence Hill

A few years ago I read Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes and thought it was a decent read, thus, I anticipated digging into his latest, The Illegal. On paper (pun intended) it had all the ingredients of a good novel. There is a nice variety of characters, some likable and some not - just the way it should be! The plot is great and the intersecting story lines are interesting enough. There is nothing off putting in the language and no other obvious faults. So why wasn't this a satisfying read for me?

Arguably the most important element of any book is that certain "je ne sais quoi". It's what captures you when you first begin a book. At its best you find yourself reading way past your bedtime because you can't put the darn book down. This book did not grab me. Now, to be fair, it's certainly not the author's fault. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this particular book at this particular time. It happens.

I really wanted to like this work because at the time I decided to read it it was on the long list for the upcoming Canada Reads. I just learned that it will indeed be a finalist and will be debated by the panel so I am grateful to know at least one of the books. I'm not inclined to read any of the others unless perhaps one of my book friends gives me a compelling reason to do so.

I really must put more thought into why I appreciate some books more than others. I feel I am not being very fair to the writers - a group of people I truly admire and respect.

Here's the shortlist for Canada Reads 2016:

The Hero’s Walk by Anita Rau Badami (Vintage Canada)
Celebrity defender: Filmmaker Vinay Virmani

The Illegal by Lawrence Hill (HarperCollins)
Celebrity defender: Olympic medalist and humanitarian Clara Hughes

Birdie by Tracey Lindberg (HarperCollins)
Celebrity defender: Entrepreneur and adventurer Bruce Poon Tip

Bone and Bread by Saleema Nawaz (House of Anansi Press)
Celebrity defender: Social entrepreneur Farah Mohamed

Minister Without Portfolio by Michael Winter (Penguin Canada)
Celebrity defender: Actor and former pro wrestler Adam Copeland

I can't wait to see what happens!
Penny

Books and Journeys

Aren't most novels about the human journey through life? Perhaps we enjoy those whose characters most resemble our own circumstances or maybe we prefer the ones where the experiences are least like our own?

Some books are more literal in this regard. One that comes to mind is The Unlikely Pilgrimage of  Harold Fry. And then there is one of my recent reads entitled Carrying Albert Home: The Somewhat True Story of a Man, His Wife, and Her Alligator. 

Make no mistake - that alligator is a main character in the story. Elsie babies the damn thing and calls him her "little boy". He's allowed onto the sofa to cuddle with Elsie and is often noted as smiling with his "toothy grin". Elsie has another issue as well. She can't get over her obsession with an old boyfriend called Buddy Ebsen - yes the one and only Jed Clampett! Homer finally gives his wife an ultimatum after fleeing another attempt by Albert to bite him - either Albert goes or he does. She reluctantly agrees but only if they drive Albert back to Orlando from whence he came. Albert was a wedding gift from the aforementioned Buddy Ebsen! Their adventures en route to Florida are quite amusing. It's hard to believe this book is based on stories told to the author by his parents. Did I mention the rooster? He has no name and is part of the adventures too. He liked to sit on Albert's back for no apparent reason.

I gotta say it was really pretty good and there are several laugh out loud moments. Elsie, who is quite a mean wife has the most personal growth from the trip south. She says, "I have come to understand I'm on a journey that is more than a journey". And perhaps more profoundly, "Maybe that's what life is, Elsie said, "Mysteries atop mysteries. We think we know everything but we don't know anything, not really." Wouldn't it be strange if Albert knew? Or maybe the rooster? They know what life means and what it is for but can't tell us except to show us." "And we don't even realize they're doing it and don't pay any attention," Elsie said."

A recommended read!
Penny

My Christmas Gift

Common Ground by Justin Trudeau

Nobody buys me books. Why would they? If there is something I feel like reading I probably have it already. It is the one area of my life where money is no object. If I want it, I buy it - it's as simple as that. I must admit I indulge myself rather frequently.

Everyone that is except my dad who bought me Common Ground this past Christmas. Dad was doing what dads do best - giving me something that would be good for me. One should learn about their Prime Minister whether one agrees with his/her policies or not. Okay, so I gave it a go and I'm not sorry I did. I took a stroll down memory lane when Trudeau recounted incidents in his childhood years, spoke of his mother, or talked about his father's politics. It's a quick read, in clear prose and written in a style that would appeal to most readers. I feel like I know him and his ideas a little bit better now.

A few years ago dad gave me Living History by Hillary Clinton claiming it should be required reading by me as she was destined to be the first female American president. That is still to be determined, but again I read something that may never have been on my reading wishlist.

Yes, I liked both of these books but truth be told I read them only because they were gifts and particularly because they were from my dad. It makes me wonder, however, if there isn't some undue pressure placed on the recipient when they are gifted a book? I enjoy giving books as presents but perhaps I need to rethink this practice?

Penny

I'm guessing that Hillary Clinton's book follows Bill's on my shelf - 2 shelves below Furby

A New Year and a New Blog!

Greetings everyone in blogger land.

I have had it in my mind for sometime now to do a blog about books and reading. I've been inspired by my friend Betty whose book blog I read with great interest.

Whenever I finish a book I feel like I want to share my impression and I sometimes do that in the back of the book (in pencil, of course - although some would say it a sacrilege to write in books at all). I do not want to write what you'd call a review, only just a few comments. You, my friends will be the readers of said comments.

So how do I begin? Well, I should start off with something I've just read I suppose but instead I will tell you about last year's reading. I went over my records to find all the books to which I gave 4 or more stars out of 5. I must state here that I am a very stingy star giver. That's something I intend to change in the future. (One might say a resolution of sorts.)

In 2015 I read 47 books and only 7 of them got 4 or more stars. Percentage wise it doesn't seem like I read very many great books and I think I did. That's why I've got to get a little more generous with the stars. Also surprising to me was the fact that 5 of those books were non-fiction.

Two 4 star reads in fiction were The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, a book not everyone loved, and the other was Stoner by John Williams. If I told you the plot of Stoner you would think it likely a bore. You could not be more wrong. This book was a master class in writing. I often couldn't put it down. Arguably the best book I read in 2015 was Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis. It got 4.5 stars! It won the Giller prize so I guess others think it was pretty good too!

The list of non-fiction 4 star reads from 2015, in no particular order:

Soul of a Lion: One Woman's Quest to Rescue Africa's Wildlife Refugees by Barbara Bennett
One for the Books by Joe Queenan
Turn My Mourning into Dancing by Henri Nouwen
The End of Religion: Encountering the Subversive Spirituality of Jesus by Bruxy Cavey
Kiss Guide to Yoga by Shakta Kaur Kalsa

Those who know me personally will think that list sums up a lot of my interests rather well!

Penny