Dave Cooks the Turkey, by Stuart McLean. Pub 2005 A gift from Christmas 2021 (thanks, Mom!), this seemed like a good holiday read for this year. Although very brief, it was a delight. For more than 20 years, Stuart McLean was the creator, writer, and host of a Canadian treasure called The Vinyl Café. Part... Continue Reading →
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler. Book report #28 (2022)
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler. Pub 2013. This book was a re-gift from a friend (who herself received it as a re-gift). My friend reported being surprised at enjoying this one, as she did not enjoy the author’s more famous book. At the heart of this book is a surprising... Continue Reading →
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Annual #tellastory day and Pop’s birthday, and so another pop tale. I don’t recall exactly when it arrived in our home, but at some point when I was young, Pop acquired a banjo. He would spend hours in the evenings and weekends plinking and plunking away, often playing along with something on the stereo or... Continue Reading →
How to Fly (in Ten Thousand Easy Lessons), by Barbara Kingsolver. Book report #20 (2021)
How to Fly (in Ten Thousand Easy Lessons), by Barbara Kingsolver. Pub 2020 I picked up this slim book of poetry just before vacation (allowable on my book diet, as Barbara Kingsolver is a favourite author). This is not Kingsolver's first book of poetry, but it is her first in nearly 30 years. And a... Continue Reading →
Always Home, by Fanny Singer. Book report #26 (2020)
Always Home, by Fanny Singer. Pub 2020 This book was an unexpected birthday gift from a friend living in California. She knows of my love of good writing and good food (and of the annual reading challenge), and after reading some favourable reviews of this book, she kindly sent it my way. It came along... Continue Reading →
Pops, by Michael Chabon. Book report #18 (2019)
Pops: Fatherhood in Pieces, by Michael Chabon. Pub. 2018 It was the title of this one that got me – not many people I know refer to their father as “pop” as I do – and also Michael Chabon as the author. I have read only a few of his books, and enjoyed each of... Continue Reading →
Item #27: Grapefruit spoons
Prior to 2007, I had never seen such a thing before, didn’t even know they existed. These quirky little things are grapefruit spoons, designed for citrus aficionados who like to scoop their fruit with ease. My grampa was such a one. He was a man who took care with his appearance – almost always appearing... Continue Reading →
Item #24: Painted Rocks
Nearly 30 years ago, my mom began painting - first with watercolours but then in a variety of media that, in the mid-nineties, included painting on rock. She collects rocks of appropriate size and texture from the local beaches on Vancouver Island, as well as other locations that she visits in Canada and elsewhere. The... Continue Reading →
Book of Treasures: Grade 9
Grade 9: 1980, JH Bruns Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB. Homeroom teacher - Mr. O. Veldnick This is me in grade 9 – except it’s not, as I don’t have a class picture from grade 9 to share. Grade 9 was the great convergence of students from the three local elementary schools into the one collegiate (a... Continue Reading →
Book of Treasures: Grade 7
Grade 7: 1978, Van Bellingham Elementary School, Winnipeg, MB. Teacher – Mr. D. Corbett. Grade 7 found us back in the same space as Grade 4, so more open area. I was still in the “B” class, and still very much distracted by the changes at home. I do have class pictures from Grade 7,... Continue Reading →
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