The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes. Pub 2011 This is a book I've read before (more than once), which is something I've done with a few books by Julian Barnes. This is a short one - just ~150 pages - but it is as full and evocative as his other writings. The characters are... Continue Reading →
Foodville, by Timothy Taylor. Book report #4 (2017)
Foodville: Biting dispatches from a food-obsessed city, by Timothy Taylor. Pub 2014. This little slip of a book is especially appealing to me as it highlights some of restaurant culture and history in Vancouver over the past 20 years, overlapping exactly with my own time period of dining here. From that point of view, this... Continue Reading →
Love Sonnets and Elegies, by Louise Labé. Book report #2 (2017)
Love Sonnets and Elegies, by Louise Labé. I was introduced to Louise Labé last year - a site on FaceBook posted one of her poems (Sonnet 18, "Kiss me, rekiss me, & kiss me again") on Valentines Day, as a promotion for a reissue of their English translation. I was hooked. A 16th-century quasi-feminist (I... Continue Reading →
Shady Characters, by Keith Houston. Book report #1 (2017).
Sh@dy Charac+ers: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks. By Ke!th H*uston. Pub. 2013. Fun and interesting read, but not for non-pedants, there is some very interesting history about lesser known marks (pilcrow, anyone?) and more common ones. The book is enlightening and fun, especially for fans of the written word. There... Continue Reading →
2017 Reading Challenge
I started a new list and challenge this year, borrowed from something I saw on Facebook - read 26 books this year, satisfying a list of criteria designed to keep the list diverse and encourage exploring new styles, genres, etc. With a few friends, we came up with our own version of the list, and... Continue Reading →
I’ll Ask You Three Times, Are You Okay? by Naomi Shihab Nye. Book report #3 (2017)
I'll Ask You Three Times, Are You Okay? Tales of Driving and Being Driven, by Naomi Shihab Nye. Pub. 2007 I don't recall how I came to this book - likely another Facebook item. This is a well done collection of personal essays and memoirs by an active writer, teacher and poet based on her... Continue Reading →
Lists of 2016
Things that made me sad (a long list this year): Umberto Eco Prince David Bowie Alan Rickman Fort MacMurray Orlando, Turkey, Baghdad, Bangladesh Leonard Cohen Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Things that irritated me: Christy Clark (a three-peat) Donald Trump and the entire GOP cabal Stanford rapist Brexit, especially Nigel Farage Pokemon Go Things that made... Continue Reading →
Theatre on Film
As many who know me know, I'm a great fan of both theatre and film. I'm also a fan of lists. One recent insomniac night, I began a list of best films about theatre. I was able to construct (and remember the next morning) a list of ten, and so here they are, for your... Continue Reading →
Item #10 – Address List
At first I wasn't sure whether to include this as an object, but since it is a thing, valued as much for its substance as its content, I think it counts. Titled "Robyn's Residences", it was written in or around 1990, when I first moved from Winnipeg to Vancouver. I don't recall the exact circumstance,... Continue Reading →
Lists of 2015
Things that made me sad: Charlie Hebdo ISIS Niqab debate Oliver Sacks John Nash Charleston Things that irritated me: Anti-vaxxers Stephen Harper Christy Clark (a three-peat) Donald Trump and the entire GOP cabal Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin and the Senate cabal Trigger warnings Things that inspired me: Trish Keating, Leslie Laforest, Sean Connor The Rosetta Mission Omar... Continue Reading →
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