This item is a curiosity – as in, I keep it only because it is odd and curious. This was a Christmas gift from a friend who delights in giving odd things that she finds in odd places (mostly antique shops, or strange little stores in West Vancouver). This item is odd because it is... Continue Reading →
Book of Treasures: Grade 8
Grade 8: September to December 1979, Souris Elementary School, Souris, PE. Teacher - Mr. D. MacDonald. January to June 1980, Van Bellingham Elementary School, Winnipeg, MB. Teacher – Mrs. A. Enns. In the summer before Grade 8, we moved with my dad to Souris, PE, a tiny town in Eastern Prince Edward Island. The change... Continue Reading →
Adventures of a Novice Hiker – Mt. Baker, Heliotrope Ridge Trail, 08 August 1992
When I recognized item #18 – the World Famous pot set – as being from my earliest hiking days, I remembered that I’d written about my first solo hike back in 1992, one of my earliest solo travels. Half of my lifetime ago, the original writing contains now-meaningless references, tinges of young adult angst, and... Continue Reading →
Item #20: World Famous cook set
During a recent vacation, I was using this set of pots and pans and was reminded of its vintage. This set is now 25 years old, having been purchased in 1992 at the inauspicious start of my hiking and outdoor hobby. Back then, I had grand aspirations of travelling the world, getting back to nature... Continue Reading →
The Opposite of Loneliness, by Marina Keegan. Book report #20* (2017)
The Opposite of Loneliness, by Marina Keegan. Pub 2014 I discovered this book when searching for anything new by one of my favourite essayists, Anne Fadiman. Her latest, it turns out, is the introduction to this volume of stories and essays by her former student, Marina Keegan. Keegan was just 22 when, shortly after graduating... Continue Reading →
The Little Virtues, by Natalia Ginzburg. Book report #19* (2017)
The Little Virtues, by Natalia Ginzburg. Pub 1962, this translation 1985. I became interested in reading this book after reading this review. I've had the book in my tsundoku for nearly a year, and brought this slim volume along for my recent holiday. As a book, it did not live up to the effusive praise of... Continue Reading →
The Griffin and Sabine Saga, by Nick Bantock. Book report #18* (2017)
The Griffin and Sabine Saga, by Nick Bantock. Pub 1991-2016 I started on this one when I recently purchased book 7, The Pharos Gate, published in 2016. I've read this entire series since it started, and so thought I should wrap it up, ticking off item 4 from the list (book published in 2016). But... Continue Reading →
The Moon is Down, by John Steinbeck. Book report #17* (2017)
The Moon is Down, by John Steinbeck. Pub 1942 This short novel was written specifically to be a piece of insurgent propaganda. As the US was entering WWII, Steinbeck became one of many artists with a patriotic and anti-fascist bent who wanted to use their skills for the cause. Originally intended to take place in... Continue Reading →
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. Book report (formerly) #17* (2017)
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. Pub 1989 Despite this being one of my favourite books of all time (it would be on my Desert Island Books list), I realized when I started this one a few months ago that I'd only ever read it the once, back in 1989 when it first... Continue Reading →
A Mixture of Frailties, by Robertson Davies. Book report #16 (2017)
A Mixture of Frailties, by Robertson Davies. Pub 1958 This completes the Salterton Trilogy for me, and I was delighted with all three books. I don't know if other authors previously had worked in the trifecta format, but Davies does it masterfully, allowing the old and new characters in the newer books to blend pretty... Continue Reading →
rclr 