I started last weekend and the beginning of my summer holidays with an abscessed tooth that suddenly blew up late Thursday afternoon. On early Sunday morning I woke up to the sounds of loud fighting on the street outside, followed by gunshots. Our area was in lockdown for the next several hours as the police looked for the weapon (recovered) and the suspects (caught and charged). I was much more unsettled and disturbed by the violence (which is unusual for our neighborhood) than I was letting myself know. I have never heard gunshots before. I think this has affected me more deeply than I have realized, as it was only looking at my books read tally that I realized I have 0 books read for this week. Violence 1, books read 0.
On Monday the youngest decided he didn't want to go to the museum to see the frog exhibit and after acting out on the way to the bus, spent the morning in his room while I sorted out Ikea and the bookshelves we were still waiting for. I did try to read - I am working on In the Shadow of the Glacier by Vicki Delaney, a Canadian mystery series, but I couldn't settle into the book. Later I realized the shooting on the weekend was still affecting me. I was also dreading the next day, Tuesday, which featured a trip to the dentist and the doctor. So the hubby and daughter got to go to the museum, and I cleaned the house and spent an hour on the phone with Ikea. Trials and tribulations of life: 1, books read: 0.
Tuesday: The dentist: 2 hours of root canal, and a new crown put in, and a couple thousand dollars poorer.
The doctor: they don't know why the diabetes medication affected my kidneys, and while my kidneys are returning to normal and it's good news nothing turned up on the ultrasound, it's another mystery my body is revealing. The good news is I'm off the medication that had made me sick from day one, the bad news is I have to follow the diabetes diet very closely (instead of occasionally cheating with 2 cookies at once) as I am on nothing to moderate my blood sugar presently. This would be good if we were sure the diabetic diet would control my blood sugar, and only time will tell. Fingers crossed, and weather and health permitting (the abscessed tooth prevented any walking for almost a week), I'll be out walking every day again. Started Shakespeare Wrote For Money by Nick Hornby because it was smallish (because I couldn't carry the library book with me as it was hardcover), on my TBR stack, and I knew I would be gone several hours to both appointments. Still not done. Health 1, books read 0. *bonus, 1 book started.
So, after that, I said to my husband, surely our holidays will get better? Indeed, Wednesday our bookshelves were delivered in the morning, and we spent the day putting them up and rearranging the living room. Pictures will follow, in the next couple of days. I am very happy, I finally have enough shelves for all my books! and the living room is starting to take shape as I envision it. Still, no books read that day either. Bookshelves 1, books read 0.
Thursday we went to the Ottawa Super Exhibition, which is an agricultural exhibition and midway fair combined, an annual fair that comes every August to Ottawa for 122 years now. We had a wonderful afternoon, despite the thunderstorm in the middle of it that sent everyone scurrying for cover for almost an hour. The highlights were certainly that at the last minute, our 21 year old joined us, so we were all together for a change, and the raptor exhibit that we managed to see, which featured 5 raptors: a Harris Hawk (all the way from Texas), a kestrel, a red-tailed hawk (my favourite bird of prey), a barn owl (gorgeous) and, most wonderful, a golden eagle. Pictures will come too! No books read, as we were too exhausted to do anything but lay in front of the tv that night. Fun 1, books read 0.
Friday: we had our water unexpectedly cut off due to summer-long construction on one of the main streets close by our neighborhood. As it was near lunch time, we dashed out of the house to MacDonald's for the kids (I refuse to eat there, it's close by the house and on the way to the bus stop), and over to the local theatre (which did still have running water so was open) to watch the new movie Nanny McPhee Returns, which started early afternoon. The timing happily worked out well for us. And it was a very delightful movie. We then took our time coming home, walking along the Ottawa River shoreline, as the river is the lowest level in at least 20 years, and over 50 feet of shore are exposed now. We saw some frogs and collected a few mussel shells, as my daughter is very interested in science and nature, and like me, collects stones and natural objects for the house. When we got home, thankfully the water was back on. Our new family time in the evening is watching The Big Bang Theory, which thanks to a friend at work, I discovered in July. We are totally hooked on this tv show and watch some every night before bed. Then it was online at midnight to catch up with my friend from Texas and all things Fringe - we had a date to watch an episode last night, which helped make my week feel more properly back in rhythm again.
Popcorn 3, books read 0.
Now it's Saturday again. Ahead of me lies a whole new week with everyone back at work and daycare except for me, and I am planning lots of reading every day, for week 2 of my summer holidays.
1st week of holidays: 7 days of extreme variety, 0 books read.
Until this week, I had been doing very well, keeping up with my 8 books a month goal, so next week lies ahead of me now, and I hope some lovely blissful uninterrupted reading time. Then I will really feel like I have rested and rejuvenated my spirits, which are still recovering from last weekend. I have enjoyed (after Tuesday) my holidays very much so far, though I am definitely craving the peace and contentment that reading brings me.
Today I have managed to read a little, but it's raining out so the kids are restless, and so we can't really settle into anything for long. I am baking banana bread with chocolate chips. Baking always helps me settle down, and it's good that it's cool enough out finally that I can bake again and not heat the house to an unbearable level. It's so cool we have been wearing sweaters for much of the day. It's not reading, though it's another fun activity the family can share, since the kids put the chocolate chips in and the youngest has been by several times already to ask if it is ready to eat yet (it's cooling down). I console myself with thinking the banana bread does have yoghurt and bananas in it, good for the diabetic diet, and if I eat a slice while I read a book, that might be as good as it can get this crazy week we've had.
How are your summer holidays going? Were you able to read as much as you wanted to this summer? Have you had your holidays yet?
Saturday, 21 August 2010
Sunday, 8 August 2010
The books I own do reflect me.
Thanks to Eva over at A Striped Armchair, I know what I want to write about tonight. She posted today about her home library, an idea she found on a new-to-me blog: The Boston Bibliophile, who has a series she is writing on what having a home library means to her, and what she wants to see in hers. I coincidentally had read a post at Book Chase that ended with his thoughts on what having a home library means to him. So, as we are waiting on our 2 new bookshelves to be delivered, and as I stare at the piles of books on the floor and shelves, patiently waiting for their turn to have a permanent shelf to call their own, I think it's a good time to talk about what I want my home library to be.
I Need Books
I have always wanted a home library. By the time I was 10, I had a long, long row of books that stretched along the floor, that were all mine. I think I have always collected books, though I have lost and let go of so many over the years. Whenever I moved, my suitcase would be half-filled with clothing, and the other half was books. When I moved to England, the books I couldn't part with were divided into the necessary few I flew with, and the rest were sent by slow mail. I still managed to give away over half of the books I owned then, something I am still learning from and about. Because as soon as I landed in England, and indeed after we came back to Canada, I started replacing the books I'd given away, or realizing that in many cases, I did want to reread them after all. It was a big lesson for me, both because I learned I can let go of most books - but not all. There are some books that have a permanent place with me. One day I'll do a post about those books! I also learned that books can be replaced, and that my idea of success is to fill my home with books. In all the phases of my life, books have been present, and I could not, cannot, feel at home in a house that does not have any books.
What kind of library - now, that is the interesting question, I think. Both Eva and Marie talk about what kind of books they have, and ask what you think a home library should be. Please let them know, and let me know also, as I'm curious: how many of us have home libraries? what kind of books do we collect? Do you collect with a purpose, or is it haphazard? How do you arrange your shelves?
I have to say that I am haphazard - I don't collect first editions, hard covers hurt my back to carry, and I buy a lot of books second-hand. Saying that, my fiction shelf is alphabetical, and my non-fiction books are all arranged by category: fairy tales and myths, history, travel, health, biography, gardening, cooking, dreams and psychology, astrology, writing, nature and science.......kind of like the dewey decimal system of arrangement, without the hassle of having numbers! Because I worked for so many years in bookstores, I was used to sorting them into categories, and it's how I find books the easiest.
That's all the mechanics of having a home library. What I'm really interested in is the soul of the home library. How many books of yours have you read? Why did you buy them? what does this book or that book mean to you? I find it's the stories we tell about why we bought books, if it was easy , or a discovery, or we had to special order it, or if it was a gift, that tells us what kind of library we have.
The Book Tour of my house
So if you take all my categories I listed above and pretend you have come into my home for a visit, what are you likely to see? First you're going to see the 4 shelves behind the sofa, in the reading area I am building. That's the fiction area. I've read almost half of those books. This is the area I fuss over the most, and where I have the unhoused piles waiting for their new home. Over by the television area are three more shelves, housing most of the non-fiction, as well as my TBR books that I have separated as books I want to read now/soon. The TBR bookshelf picture is on my sidebar. They sit beside me here at the computer. I often look at them and dream of when I can get to them, and fuss around and rearrange them for challenges I am currently working through. My husband and I share the history and travel books, and they sit closest to the tv, where we can pull out the atlas when the kids ask a geography question.
Next room is the kitchen, and I have two shelves filled with cookbooks. I love reading recipes. My sister asked me once if I read everything, including the authors' notes before recipes, and if I read cookbooks all the way through, and I was surprised. Of course I do! It was the first time I realized that my mother and I are similar in this, and my sister isn't.
My Little Creative Room
My most private books, astrology, quilting, tarot, writing and spirituality, are all upstairs in my craft room. This is a tiny room that could be a huge built-in closet, though by now you know if it's a choice between using the space for clothing or books, I'd choose books. When I first saw the room, I knew it would be my writing room one day. I have my quilting supplies stashed away, so it's not all set up yet. Funnily enough, I need some storage space for all the material I have collected! I find that the colours of quilting inspire me and help me write, though I'm not sure of how this works yet! I go in every day, and I guess thinking about it now, it would be my inspiration room. Poetry used to be here, but as I've been reading and buying more recently, that has moved downstairs. I think I want to show off that I am reading poetry and what - who - I love.
What the books I have say about me......
I think this idea of showing off what I love is important to me in the books I do have. For a long time when I was going to university, there was a pretentiousness I felt in carrying around classics and 'literature', that I've slowly learned to let go of. I do want to appear intelligent, but not because I'm carrying or reading or own the 'right' books, but because I've read them and I can discuss ideas intelligently. So while I'm proud of my books that I own, I'm also really shy about them, because they do reflect me, my personality and my tastes, now. To come into my home and see my books is to see me.
The Plan
My library is semi-organized. By this I mean, I have only recently attempted to make lists of books I am missing to have complete sets, and to really plan a permanent shelving plan. I would love to have built-in shelves in my house, and that is my secret dream for our house. To have a fireplace, and shelves built in on either side, and then up over doorways and wall to wall. I can't think of a prettier, interesting, and happier home to be in.
So that gives you an idea of where I am in my home library stage. Where are you? Do you spend time looking at books for ideas on how to shelve your books? Do you dream of a home library that fills your home with what you love, and what books would those be? Would your home spill over with books, or would they be tidy and a few shelves of the ones you love the very most?
My home library
At the back of my mind, I've always wanted a home library that meant I could find at my fingertips, in my own home, the answers to questions I wanted, or the next book to read. I think I want it all here, a copy of every book I've ever read and loved, as well as ones I think I'm likely to love when I do read them.
The children of course, all have bookshelves now too, in their bedrooms, though my son (the 21 year old) and the daughter are showing a tendency to pile books they are reading near where they happen to sit. I think they take after me. Even with all our shelves, we all have piles of books that we are looking at. And I forgot to mention that I don't have a space for the library books I've borrowed, so they are in a stack on the floor.........I think this would be called the mess of life, and I really wouldn't have it any other way.
So that's where I am in my home library stage. As I get pictures of the various areas, I'll post them, because the next best thing to being in someone's home and examining their shelves, is seeing pictures of their shelves!
I hope you have a happy Sunday reading, and thinking about your home library.
I Need Books
I have always wanted a home library. By the time I was 10, I had a long, long row of books that stretched along the floor, that were all mine. I think I have always collected books, though I have lost and let go of so many over the years. Whenever I moved, my suitcase would be half-filled with clothing, and the other half was books. When I moved to England, the books I couldn't part with were divided into the necessary few I flew with, and the rest were sent by slow mail. I still managed to give away over half of the books I owned then, something I am still learning from and about. Because as soon as I landed in England, and indeed after we came back to Canada, I started replacing the books I'd given away, or realizing that in many cases, I did want to reread them after all. It was a big lesson for me, both because I learned I can let go of most books - but not all. There are some books that have a permanent place with me. One day I'll do a post about those books! I also learned that books can be replaced, and that my idea of success is to fill my home with books. In all the phases of my life, books have been present, and I could not, cannot, feel at home in a house that does not have any books.
What kind of library - now, that is the interesting question, I think. Both Eva and Marie talk about what kind of books they have, and ask what you think a home library should be. Please let them know, and let me know also, as I'm curious: how many of us have home libraries? what kind of books do we collect? Do you collect with a purpose, or is it haphazard? How do you arrange your shelves?
I have to say that I am haphazard - I don't collect first editions, hard covers hurt my back to carry, and I buy a lot of books second-hand. Saying that, my fiction shelf is alphabetical, and my non-fiction books are all arranged by category: fairy tales and myths, history, travel, health, biography, gardening, cooking, dreams and psychology, astrology, writing, nature and science.......kind of like the dewey decimal system of arrangement, without the hassle of having numbers! Because I worked for so many years in bookstores, I was used to sorting them into categories, and it's how I find books the easiest.
That's all the mechanics of having a home library. What I'm really interested in is the soul of the home library. How many books of yours have you read? Why did you buy them? what does this book or that book mean to you? I find it's the stories we tell about why we bought books, if it was easy , or a discovery, or we had to special order it, or if it was a gift, that tells us what kind of library we have.
The Book Tour of my house
So if you take all my categories I listed above and pretend you have come into my home for a visit, what are you likely to see? First you're going to see the 4 shelves behind the sofa, in the reading area I am building. That's the fiction area. I've read almost half of those books. This is the area I fuss over the most, and where I have the unhoused piles waiting for their new home. Over by the television area are three more shelves, housing most of the non-fiction, as well as my TBR books that I have separated as books I want to read now/soon. The TBR bookshelf picture is on my sidebar. They sit beside me here at the computer. I often look at them and dream of when I can get to them, and fuss around and rearrange them for challenges I am currently working through. My husband and I share the history and travel books, and they sit closest to the tv, where we can pull out the atlas when the kids ask a geography question.
Next room is the kitchen, and I have two shelves filled with cookbooks. I love reading recipes. My sister asked me once if I read everything, including the authors' notes before recipes, and if I read cookbooks all the way through, and I was surprised. Of course I do! It was the first time I realized that my mother and I are similar in this, and my sister isn't.
My Little Creative Room
My most private books, astrology, quilting, tarot, writing and spirituality, are all upstairs in my craft room. This is a tiny room that could be a huge built-in closet, though by now you know if it's a choice between using the space for clothing or books, I'd choose books. When I first saw the room, I knew it would be my writing room one day. I have my quilting supplies stashed away, so it's not all set up yet. Funnily enough, I need some storage space for all the material I have collected! I find that the colours of quilting inspire me and help me write, though I'm not sure of how this works yet! I go in every day, and I guess thinking about it now, it would be my inspiration room. Poetry used to be here, but as I've been reading and buying more recently, that has moved downstairs. I think I want to show off that I am reading poetry and what - who - I love.
What the books I have say about me......
I think this idea of showing off what I love is important to me in the books I do have. For a long time when I was going to university, there was a pretentiousness I felt in carrying around classics and 'literature', that I've slowly learned to let go of. I do want to appear intelligent, but not because I'm carrying or reading or own the 'right' books, but because I've read them and I can discuss ideas intelligently. So while I'm proud of my books that I own, I'm also really shy about them, because they do reflect me, my personality and my tastes, now. To come into my home and see my books is to see me.
The Plan
My library is semi-organized. By this I mean, I have only recently attempted to make lists of books I am missing to have complete sets, and to really plan a permanent shelving plan. I would love to have built-in shelves in my house, and that is my secret dream for our house. To have a fireplace, and shelves built in on either side, and then up over doorways and wall to wall. I can't think of a prettier, interesting, and happier home to be in.
So that gives you an idea of where I am in my home library stage. Where are you? Do you spend time looking at books for ideas on how to shelve your books? Do you dream of a home library that fills your home with what you love, and what books would those be? Would your home spill over with books, or would they be tidy and a few shelves of the ones you love the very most?
My home library
At the back of my mind, I've always wanted a home library that meant I could find at my fingertips, in my own home, the answers to questions I wanted, or the next book to read. I think I want it all here, a copy of every book I've ever read and loved, as well as ones I think I'm likely to love when I do read them.
The children of course, all have bookshelves now too, in their bedrooms, though my son (the 21 year old) and the daughter are showing a tendency to pile books they are reading near where they happen to sit. I think they take after me. Even with all our shelves, we all have piles of books that we are looking at. And I forgot to mention that I don't have a space for the library books I've borrowed, so they are in a stack on the floor.........I think this would be called the mess of life, and I really wouldn't have it any other way.
So that's where I am in my home library stage. As I get pictures of the various areas, I'll post them, because the next best thing to being in someone's home and examining their shelves, is seeing pictures of their shelves!
I hope you have a happy Sunday reading, and thinking about your home library.
Saturday, 7 August 2010
Did you know it was cool to be Canadian?
Because I have an abscess in my tooth and the Tylenol 3 is making me very light-headed, I thought I would point you to some interesting and fun links I've found today. In other words, I don't know if I will make sense if I actually blog about books today!
Did you know it was cool to be Canadian? I didn't, not until I read on "Lost in Books" the "Take me Away to Canada eh?" post.
Do You Agree?
Trish at "Hey Lady Watcha Reading?" has a very interesting post on Amazon books, "Why I hate Amazon and Will Never Ever Buy From Them Again." I have just discovered the amazing service Amazon.ca has, but I didn't know it came at a price, and I find I'm really torn here. Sometimes I can only get books on Amazon.ca.
I escape the dilmma (sort of):
Happily, I've discovered that my local favourite indie bookstore, Collected Works, now has their shop online as well as the physical bookstore on Wellingston St, here in Ottawa. I am beyond delighted, because not only can you order online as easily as you can with Amazon.ca, Collected Works also delivers to your door. Direct. You don't have to go down to the store to pick up your books. Here is their link, in case you live in Eastern Ontario or Western Quebec. They might even ship to the US, it would be worth enquiring, especially if you want to go the indie route for your books. I plan on making good use of them!
Celebrating new shelves!!
My booktwin Bybee over at "Naked Without Books" has acquired two new bookshelves and has posted them for us all to drool over (and wonder how long it will take her to fill the empty spaces), on "Shelf Shots". There must be something in the air for Susans, because we bought two bookshelves from Ikea last week which should be delivered tomorrow, and I will finally have all of my books up off the floor. I will be posting pictures of my redesigned library in the living room, two years in the making, then. I don't think I will have any empty spaces, though, which my husband is refusing to admit means we might need another shelf sooner rather than later......
Books and cats just go together:
Nymeth at "things mean alot" has a fabulous review of a Diana Wynne Jones short story that I really have to find now, on "What the Cat Told Me by Diana Wynne Jones". I love cats, and as some of you may remember, our cat passed away in June after fighting cancer for a year and a half. This short story is from the cat's point of view, and the review Nymeth gives has made me miss Bandit once again. I also am a fervent admirer of Diana Wynne Jones, and am sad to see that I missed Diana Wynne Jones week here on the internet.
It's never too soon to get ready for the annual RIP challenge:
Bride over at "Bride of the Book God" has reviewed a gothic book that is perfect for Carl's upcoming RIP challenge, on "The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein." I've added it to my list of books to get, since I'd already noticed this book in the bookstores.
Things you keep at work:
Carl's post at "Stainless Steel Droppings" has made me confess to my own addiction to collecting toys for my cubicle at work, on his post "Moving On." Do you collect anything for your office work space? Do you think toys have inner lives of their own?
Here are the two dunnys I've managed to collect so far: I own the one on the far left on the first set, and the far right on the second set.
The one I really really really want is the middle one of the first set.
Here is the the link to the Dunny site, so you can find your own way to your favourite one. The store that carries them has been sold out for two months now, and I'm sure the clerks are amused at the two 40-somethings who pop in almost every day to see if any have come in yet. I've managed to get my friend at work hooked on them too. Yes, toys are fun, no matter what our age! and really, for my life at work, I do need to have a toy or two to remind myself there is a world outside work. I also have a tiny collection of books for emergencies - a short story collection of fantasy stories set at Christmas, a copy of The Selected Poems of John Donne, a thriller, and a small journal for writing ideas and thoughts. What do you have at your work to keep you sane?
Happy reading, my Gentle Readers!
Did you know it was cool to be Canadian? I didn't, not until I read on "Lost in Books" the "Take me Away to Canada eh?" post.
Do You Agree?
Trish at "Hey Lady Watcha Reading?" has a very interesting post on Amazon books, "Why I hate Amazon and Will Never Ever Buy From Them Again." I have just discovered the amazing service Amazon.ca has, but I didn't know it came at a price, and I find I'm really torn here. Sometimes I can only get books on Amazon.ca.
I escape the dilmma (sort of):
Happily, I've discovered that my local favourite indie bookstore, Collected Works, now has their shop online as well as the physical bookstore on Wellingston St, here in Ottawa. I am beyond delighted, because not only can you order online as easily as you can with Amazon.ca, Collected Works also delivers to your door. Direct. You don't have to go down to the store to pick up your books. Here is their link, in case you live in Eastern Ontario or Western Quebec. They might even ship to the US, it would be worth enquiring, especially if you want to go the indie route for your books. I plan on making good use of them!
Celebrating new shelves!!
My booktwin Bybee over at "Naked Without Books" has acquired two new bookshelves and has posted them for us all to drool over (and wonder how long it will take her to fill the empty spaces), on "Shelf Shots". There must be something in the air for Susans, because we bought two bookshelves from Ikea last week which should be delivered tomorrow, and I will finally have all of my books up off the floor. I will be posting pictures of my redesigned library in the living room, two years in the making, then. I don't think I will have any empty spaces, though, which my husband is refusing to admit means we might need another shelf sooner rather than later......
Books and cats just go together:
Nymeth at "things mean alot" has a fabulous review of a Diana Wynne Jones short story that I really have to find now, on "What the Cat Told Me by Diana Wynne Jones". I love cats, and as some of you may remember, our cat passed away in June after fighting cancer for a year and a half. This short story is from the cat's point of view, and the review Nymeth gives has made me miss Bandit once again. I also am a fervent admirer of Diana Wynne Jones, and am sad to see that I missed Diana Wynne Jones week here on the internet.
It's never too soon to get ready for the annual RIP challenge:
Bride over at "Bride of the Book God" has reviewed a gothic book that is perfect for Carl's upcoming RIP challenge, on "The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein." I've added it to my list of books to get, since I'd already noticed this book in the bookstores.
Things you keep at work:
Carl's post at "Stainless Steel Droppings" has made me confess to my own addiction to collecting toys for my cubicle at work, on his post "Moving On." Do you collect anything for your office work space? Do you think toys have inner lives of their own?
Here are the two dunnys I've managed to collect so far: I own the one on the far left on the first set, and the far right on the second set.
The one I really really really want is the middle one of the first set.
Here is the the link to the Dunny site, so you can find your own way to your favourite one. The store that carries them has been sold out for two months now, and I'm sure the clerks are amused at the two 40-somethings who pop in almost every day to see if any have come in yet. I've managed to get my friend at work hooked on them too. Yes, toys are fun, no matter what our age! and really, for my life at work, I do need to have a toy or two to remind myself there is a world outside work. I also have a tiny collection of books for emergencies - a short story collection of fantasy stories set at Christmas, a copy of The Selected Poems of John Donne, a thriller, and a small journal for writing ideas and thoughts. What do you have at your work to keep you sane?
Happy reading, my Gentle Readers!
Sunday, 25 July 2010
The Speed of Dark - an extraordinary science fiction novel
So there I was, happily blathering away about reading mysteries this very warm summer, and then I picked up The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon from the library. It won the 2004 Nebula Award, and I can say now after reading this extraordinary novel, it was deserved. You know me by now, I use the word extraordinary rarely when reviewing books. I find it easy to lavish praise on books I think are very well written, so I save a few words for those books that shine above in the realm of the written word. The Speed of Dark is a book like that.
It is a book about an autistic man, who has had some minor enhancements that are scientifically possible in the future, that enable him to speak and to express his thoughts. We see Lou Arrendale's world through his eyes. I think this book is brilliant. It is a rare insight into how an autistic person focuses, and how difficult it is for them to focus when there is so much sensory data around. It makes me wonder how much more our own brains can manage, which can sift through the enormous data we now have swirling around us, with cell phones and I-Phones and laptops to connect us as well just the daily movement and noise we have to navigate to get anywhere safely. Are we truly taking the world in now? I wonder........An autistic person can't determine what to focus on, can't sort through many different distractions at the same time. Patterns are easier, and enormously concentrating. The enhancements Lou had as a child, - sometime in the next century although we don't get an exact date, our century is referred to as an earlier century - enable him to use what he sees in patterns, and see them in everything. This enables him to work on computer programs - an interesting idea, and I would be very curious if it was possible - and live on his own without assistance, although as we see through the novel, anything new does cause him alarm and he needs to think his way through how to deal with it. It is a glimpse into a world that is simplified to the basic meaning of everything. Not simple, just the clearest way of saying something, where Lou expresses how he sees the world by using the complex patterns he works with. It is amazing, and thoughtful, and familiar too, like it's how we all, normals and autistics, do navigate in this world at the same level, in our deepest selves. Certainly in this book how Lou sees us reveals us as people who don't always say what we mean, who do unconsciously understand social cues that he cannot grasp. The ability to grasp social cues and to know how to react to them, along with the ability to verbally communicate, are the biggest differences between autistic people and normal people. This book is also revelation of how much we take for granted, that confuse autistic people - language we use that has many meanings, understanding how someone who could be a friend could also turn into someone who hates us, questions like is dark at a place before light gets there? What is the speed of dark, is it faster than light? the same as? What does it mean if we develop the ability to change how a brain processes information? How do we know how a person likes us, whether they are interested in us as more than friends or not? How do we really feel when other people come into our space? Are our lives more ordered than we would like to admit? How much of Lou do I have in me? It makes me wonder if we all start off as sorting through the world the same way as infants, and then autistics shut off part of their processing ability - or it never develops in the same way as a brain is capable of working. That at some deep level, we all process information the same way, but normal people find a way to communicate it better and can manage the daily changes that are part of life better.
This novel is about what it means to process information. Lou is offered - at first coerced, and then later is offered the choice - to go ahead with an experimental program that will refire his neurons so that he will keep his autistic ability to understand and see highly complex patterns, but he will have the neurons that understand social cues enhanced so he will be more normal. The heart of this book is Lou thinking through the ramifications of this dilemma, even as he teaches himself the science behind how the brain learns, to understand as fully he can what he is facing. Lou learns that autistic people can, and do, change. That change comes to everyone, and the choice is whether to accept it, or have it forced upon you. This is an amazing revelation for him. And when Lou makes his choice, I cried. I didn't want him to change, I didn't want to lose the Lou that existed. What does that say about memory? About our lives? What makes us human? If we need to experiment, do we understand really what we are asking the human volunteers to do?
This is an extraordinary novel. Elizabeth Moon has captured what each day, daily life, is like for an autistic person, and she has given us the gift of seeing what an autistic person can offer us, the value of their lives to the world.
I have deliberately chosen not to use science fiction here, in my desire to get as many people as possible to give this book a try. Seeing this now, I see I am doing a disservice to the science fiction genre. I don't like labels for books when it means a book won't be read because of how it is classified, and this is something science fiction books suffer under almost more than any other gentre of books. However, maybe what I should be doing is shouting from the rooftops: Look! Look everyone! This is what science fiction can do! This is the very best kind of book, and it uses science fiction to explain what could happen, and what could be. We look ahead into the future. In our current science exploration of the mind and the brain and the body, do we want to move towards a world where we can modify the brain? Give the chance to be fully the best they can to someone whose brain doesn't work like ours, no matter how the brain is originally wired? And does that mean that we lose what autistic people do give to the world, and anyone else who is 'different', special, needing special services? Is our desire to make everyone normal to make our lives easier, or theirs? These are all questions Lou asks, that his company makes him ask, and this is what the very best of novels in any genre, what the very best writing does: it entertains, it excites, and it makes us think. Science fiction, when it is written like this, is the very best kind of book for showing us the future and guiding us to where we want to go.
It is a book about an autistic man, who has had some minor enhancements that are scientifically possible in the future, that enable him to speak and to express his thoughts. We see Lou Arrendale's world through his eyes. I think this book is brilliant. It is a rare insight into how an autistic person focuses, and how difficult it is for them to focus when there is so much sensory data around. It makes me wonder how much more our own brains can manage, which can sift through the enormous data we now have swirling around us, with cell phones and I-Phones and laptops to connect us as well just the daily movement and noise we have to navigate to get anywhere safely. Are we truly taking the world in now? I wonder........An autistic person can't determine what to focus on, can't sort through many different distractions at the same time. Patterns are easier, and enormously concentrating. The enhancements Lou had as a child, - sometime in the next century although we don't get an exact date, our century is referred to as an earlier century - enable him to use what he sees in patterns, and see them in everything. This enables him to work on computer programs - an interesting idea, and I would be very curious if it was possible - and live on his own without assistance, although as we see through the novel, anything new does cause him alarm and he needs to think his way through how to deal with it. It is a glimpse into a world that is simplified to the basic meaning of everything. Not simple, just the clearest way of saying something, where Lou expresses how he sees the world by using the complex patterns he works with. It is amazing, and thoughtful, and familiar too, like it's how we all, normals and autistics, do navigate in this world at the same level, in our deepest selves. Certainly in this book how Lou sees us reveals us as people who don't always say what we mean, who do unconsciously understand social cues that he cannot grasp. The ability to grasp social cues and to know how to react to them, along with the ability to verbally communicate, are the biggest differences between autistic people and normal people. This book is also revelation of how much we take for granted, that confuse autistic people - language we use that has many meanings, understanding how someone who could be a friend could also turn into someone who hates us, questions like is dark at a place before light gets there? What is the speed of dark, is it faster than light? the same as? What does it mean if we develop the ability to change how a brain processes information? How do we know how a person likes us, whether they are interested in us as more than friends or not? How do we really feel when other people come into our space? Are our lives more ordered than we would like to admit? How much of Lou do I have in me? It makes me wonder if we all start off as sorting through the world the same way as infants, and then autistics shut off part of their processing ability - or it never develops in the same way as a brain is capable of working. That at some deep level, we all process information the same way, but normal people find a way to communicate it better and can manage the daily changes that are part of life better.
This novel is about what it means to process information. Lou is offered - at first coerced, and then later is offered the choice - to go ahead with an experimental program that will refire his neurons so that he will keep his autistic ability to understand and see highly complex patterns, but he will have the neurons that understand social cues enhanced so he will be more normal. The heart of this book is Lou thinking through the ramifications of this dilemma, even as he teaches himself the science behind how the brain learns, to understand as fully he can what he is facing. Lou learns that autistic people can, and do, change. That change comes to everyone, and the choice is whether to accept it, or have it forced upon you. This is an amazing revelation for him. And when Lou makes his choice, I cried. I didn't want him to change, I didn't want to lose the Lou that existed. What does that say about memory? About our lives? What makes us human? If we need to experiment, do we understand really what we are asking the human volunteers to do?
This is an extraordinary novel. Elizabeth Moon has captured what each day, daily life, is like for an autistic person, and she has given us the gift of seeing what an autistic person can offer us, the value of their lives to the world.
I have deliberately chosen not to use science fiction here, in my desire to get as many people as possible to give this book a try. Seeing this now, I see I am doing a disservice to the science fiction genre. I don't like labels for books when it means a book won't be read because of how it is classified, and this is something science fiction books suffer under almost more than any other gentre of books. However, maybe what I should be doing is shouting from the rooftops: Look! Look everyone! This is what science fiction can do! This is the very best kind of book, and it uses science fiction to explain what could happen, and what could be. We look ahead into the future. In our current science exploration of the mind and the brain and the body, do we want to move towards a world where we can modify the brain? Give the chance to be fully the best they can to someone whose brain doesn't work like ours, no matter how the brain is originally wired? And does that mean that we lose what autistic people do give to the world, and anyone else who is 'different', special, needing special services? Is our desire to make everyone normal to make our lives easier, or theirs? These are all questions Lou asks, that his company makes him ask, and this is what the very best of novels in any genre, what the very best writing does: it entertains, it excites, and it makes us think. Science fiction, when it is written like this, is the very best kind of book for showing us the future and guiding us to where we want to go.
Saturday, 17 July 2010
Summer time reading is mysteries
I don't know about you, Gentle Reader, but this is a very warm summer where we are in Ottawa. Certainly the warmest for at least 3 years. We had a heat wave at the beginning of the month, which is over now. The temperatures have to reach 90F for three days in a row to be declared a heat wave. We have been hitting the mid-80's for the past several days. Today it's 88F and all the fans are running. What's a girl to do in the heat but......READ. It's bliss, pure bliss, to be so hot that all I can do is read.
I have discovered that this summer, I want to read mysteries. In January, I had set my goal of reading 50 mysteries this year, and after my abysmal reading in May (one book!!) I've been more determined to get reading. I've read 7 mysteries since May 30, 15 books in total since May 30. 20 mysteries in total this year. Almost half-way there! I have two shelves full of mysteries waiting to be read, series I want to catch up in, new series to start. There are so many mystery series out there, the field has exploded in the past twenty years. My local Chapters store has 5 long shelves devoted solely to mysteries - the middle of the floor shelves, that pack a lot of books in them. So I thought I'd ask you, my dear readers, and try to answer myself, this question: what makes a mystery worth reading? How do you find the series that you love?
Things I Look For in Mysteries
- layered plot
-intelligent hero/heroine, cast of characters
-well-written
-clues sprinkled throughout
- sense of morality
- asks why
- the crimes have repercussions experienced through following the victims too. so we see the cost in human terms, and we see the ripple effects in the community.
How do I find mysteries to read?
I mostly find my books through browsing in stores, reading reviews from various sources, and you, my dear book bloggers. You have brought me Susan Hill (I wasn't aware really of this series before), Martin Edwards, Elly Griffiths (still to be reviewed, very good first mystery), Jo Nesbo, Peter Lovesey, Christopher Fowler........My mother is a big source, as are my friends who read mysteries. I'm always looking for a new series to read, new detectives to bond with.
The five series I'm going to talk about are ones I've been reading this summer.
Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler series, Graham Hurley's DI Joe Faraday series, Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series, Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series, and Martin Edward's DCI Hannah Scarlett series. These are all police procedurals. I've realized that I am attracted to the search for justice within the police services. In real life, men and women who join the police do so usually because they want to protect, to defend, and to solve mysteries. The detectives in mysteries represent the same ideals, I think. Each author brings something different to the their detectives and to the themes or issues they are interested in exploring.
Susan Hill: Like PD James' Adam Dalgleish, Simon Serrailler has a secret other life: he is a painter. He goes away on breaks to his hideaways and sketches, that he develops later into paintings. It sounds faintly ludicrous, that a DCI could be an artist as well as chief Inspector, but in Susan Hill's hands, it more than works. It is thrilling and like with Dalgleish's poetry, I really wish I could see Serrailer's art! I think that because Simon is at some remove from his detective work - he enjoys it, is passionate about finding the killers and bringing closure to cases - that, also like Adam, neither are defined solely by their police work. They bring a detachment that allows them to view colleagues and the crimes with intelligence unmarred by political ambition. It is also a way for them to hang on to their souls when faced with the hideous crimes and actions they witness every day.
I really like the Simon Serrailler mysteries. They are quite addictive. I have to know more about Simon and his twin sister Cat Deerborn, who is a GP and happily married to another GP. Their house is another sanctuary for Simon, who is single. They are actually part of a set of triplets, but the third child, Ivo, is in Australia and so far (end of book three) we haven't met him yet. There is a deep sense of humanity in the Simon Serrailer mysteries. The crimes, when they occur, are sometimes terrible. Hill is good at depicting all the characters involved in each mystery, all the secondary characters and their inner lives, and how the crimes affect them. I find this fascinating. The killer in books 2 and 3 is an amazing portrait of a psychopath. I can't recommend this series enough. The first three books I've read so far - and if you note, Book 2 and Book Three do follow on one another, so this series should be read in order.
The Various Haunts of Men (read and reviewed last year **can't find it, still looking)
The Pure in Heart - 5/5
The Risks of Darkness - 5/5
Graham Hurley - DI Joe Faraday is a widower raising a deaf son. He is also a bird-watcher, and the first book in the series, Turnstone, takes its name from one of the many birds that live on the shores of the beaches around Portsmouth, where this series takes place. It's how he gets away from it all, when he needs to. It's interesting that in today's crime novel, detectives need to have some interest away from work, in order to keep their sanity. Something to balance the horror.
Faraday is set up against DC Paul Winter, who is a lone wolf in the detective force. Winter sets his own rules, and has directly wrecked one of Faraday's investigations in revenge for trying to reel him in. In the Portsmouth police force, there is as much betrayal within the police department as without. Most of all though, is Joe Faraday, who still makes the effort to connect to the people affected by the crimes, and through whose eyes Portsmouth the ancient port, once proud Naval bastion of England, comes to grips with grim, modern life. It's not a pretty city, but it does have its places of charm and beauty, despite the rampant crime the police face. This is a nitty-gritty police series, where every step of the investigation is detailed, and it's fascinating and gripping. There are 10 books in the series now, I've read three:
Turnstone
The Take
Angels Passing 4.5/5
Louise Penny: Inspector Gamache is from the Surete Du Quebec, the provincial police force called out on major crimes. The first three books are centered around Three Pines, which for a tiny village has alot of serious crime! Three Pines is so beautiful and cosy that everyone who reads about it wants to move there, myself included. It's not a real place, but is set in the real countryside of Quebec.
Inspector Gamache himself is unusual - quiet, charming, intelligent, and very, very observant. He also has a team of detectives under him, and pulled from nearby forces for local knowledge and help, that come with him when he goes out on cases. Over the three books I've read so far in the series, we've seen Gamache fight for his life with both the criminals and from betrayal within his force. He is so good at his job that he has incurred much jealousy, and in the third book, The Cruellest Month, it comes to a head. How Gamache escapes, and how a seance features, makes for a very creepy ending. The Cruellest Month was very good. Gamache's team are interesting because they vary from novices to experienced detectives, so we get a range of what working on an investigation - and the mistakes made - as well as the leaps of intuition that Penny has so skillfully written that we feel brilliant too, reading these books. Very, very entertaining. Penny is my personal favourite of our Canadian mystery writers.
All three of her books that I read, are linked in the post I did on Louise Penny last fall:
Still Life
Dead Cold
The Cruellest Month
Martin Edwards: DCI Hannah Scarlett heads up the newly formed Cold Case Review Team in England's beautiful Lake District. Aiding her is Daniel Kind, son of Scarlett's former detective partner, Ben Kind. When the series opens, Daniel comes to the Lake District in an effort to understand a little bit about his recently dead father, and ends up buying a cottage and staying with his girlfriend. As he gets to know the locals, he often investigates on his own initiative, though by The Cipher Gardens, the second book, both Hannah and Daniel are beginning to be aware they are attracted to one another. DCI Scarlett views her position on the Cold Case team as a setback, a punishment for failing on a big case before the series opens. She wants to get back to the real work, in the serious crimes division, but has realized that Cold Cases have their own satisfaction when they are solved.
Hannah Scarlett is interesting and I almost wish we could have more of her. I like her personal struggles as well as her professional ones. She is not a detective who has it all together, but because of this, we get to see her learn about herself as well as her team and the part of the Lake District she lives in. Daniel Kind is a fun character. He is a historian, which in the books they make comparisons to being a detective. Because these are cold cases, of course Daniel is used to questioning and looking for clues in historical facts and stories, and he easily slides into finding local knowledge, though not without some personal risk to himself. It's going to be interesting to see how this relationship develops. There is danger of course, as secrets long held are finally exposed. I'm really enjoying watching the Cold Case team decide if they should follow anonymous tips or letters received about old unsolved crimes or not. I've read two out of the existing 5 books in the series so far.
They are:
The Coffin Trail (read and reviewed earlier)
The Cipher Garden 5/5
The others are on my shelf, waiting their turn to be read this hot summer!
Jo Nesbo: You all know from my previous reviews (see links just below) how much I love Harry Hole. He's the detective I've fallen in love with. He is the loner here, the wild card, the one who goes off on his own, protected by his immediate boss when he would be thrown out of the force - mostly for insubordination, and not always telling his bosses exactly what he's doing until he's done it. But he gets results, almost always because Harry is persistent. Dogged. Determined. Heroic in the best sense of the word. Certainly not angelic and brings about his own problems. I love how he wants the truth, no matter how much it costs.
The Redbreast
Nemesis
All the above detectives wonder at times what they are doing in the police force, and that the job isn't what it used to be. There is a melancholy about these detectives as they fight their often lonely battle against crime, against criminals who don't care they are breaking the law, and often battle elements within the police force itself - pointless paperwork and staying within the law.
Mostly, these characters have become characters I care about, revealing the world we live in, often standing between us and the darkness that crime threatens to pull us all into. All of these books are very well-written, gripping adventures, heart-breaking in places, with excellent characters and interesting stories to tell. I have the next books in all the series lined up on my shelves to be read shortly. It seems to be a mystery reading summer for me.
What are you reading this summer? Is it unusual for you to be reading what you're reading, or do you have a normal summer fling - beach read - that you reach for when the temperature is hot and all you can do is read? Where you are, have you found you've been doing more reading or less, in our above-average hot summer?
I have discovered that this summer, I want to read mysteries. In January, I had set my goal of reading 50 mysteries this year, and after my abysmal reading in May (one book!!) I've been more determined to get reading. I've read 7 mysteries since May 30, 15 books in total since May 30. 20 mysteries in total this year. Almost half-way there! I have two shelves full of mysteries waiting to be read, series I want to catch up in, new series to start. There are so many mystery series out there, the field has exploded in the past twenty years. My local Chapters store has 5 long shelves devoted solely to mysteries - the middle of the floor shelves, that pack a lot of books in them. So I thought I'd ask you, my dear readers, and try to answer myself, this question: what makes a mystery worth reading? How do you find the series that you love?
Things I Look For in Mysteries
- layered plot
-intelligent hero/heroine, cast of characters
-well-written
-clues sprinkled throughout
- sense of morality
- asks why
- the crimes have repercussions experienced through following the victims too. so we see the cost in human terms, and we see the ripple effects in the community.
How do I find mysteries to read?
I mostly find my books through browsing in stores, reading reviews from various sources, and you, my dear book bloggers. You have brought me Susan Hill (I wasn't aware really of this series before), Martin Edwards, Elly Griffiths (still to be reviewed, very good first mystery), Jo Nesbo, Peter Lovesey, Christopher Fowler........My mother is a big source, as are my friends who read mysteries. I'm always looking for a new series to read, new detectives to bond with.
The five series I'm going to talk about are ones I've been reading this summer.
Susan Hill's Simon Serrailler series, Graham Hurley's DI Joe Faraday series, Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series, Louise Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series, and Martin Edward's DCI Hannah Scarlett series. These are all police procedurals. I've realized that I am attracted to the search for justice within the police services. In real life, men and women who join the police do so usually because they want to protect, to defend, and to solve mysteries. The detectives in mysteries represent the same ideals, I think. Each author brings something different to the their detectives and to the themes or issues they are interested in exploring.
Susan Hill: Like PD James' Adam Dalgleish, Simon Serrailler has a secret other life: he is a painter. He goes away on breaks to his hideaways and sketches, that he develops later into paintings. It sounds faintly ludicrous, that a DCI could be an artist as well as chief Inspector, but in Susan Hill's hands, it more than works. It is thrilling and like with Dalgleish's poetry, I really wish I could see Serrailer's art! I think that because Simon is at some remove from his detective work - he enjoys it, is passionate about finding the killers and bringing closure to cases - that, also like Adam, neither are defined solely by their police work. They bring a detachment that allows them to view colleagues and the crimes with intelligence unmarred by political ambition. It is also a way for them to hang on to their souls when faced with the hideous crimes and actions they witness every day.
I really like the Simon Serrailler mysteries. They are quite addictive. I have to know more about Simon and his twin sister Cat Deerborn, who is a GP and happily married to another GP. Their house is another sanctuary for Simon, who is single. They are actually part of a set of triplets, but the third child, Ivo, is in Australia and so far (end of book three) we haven't met him yet. There is a deep sense of humanity in the Simon Serrailer mysteries. The crimes, when they occur, are sometimes terrible. Hill is good at depicting all the characters involved in each mystery, all the secondary characters and their inner lives, and how the crimes affect them. I find this fascinating. The killer in books 2 and 3 is an amazing portrait of a psychopath. I can't recommend this series enough. The first three books I've read so far - and if you note, Book 2 and Book Three do follow on one another, so this series should be read in order.
The Various Haunts of Men (read and reviewed last year **can't find it, still looking)
The Pure in Heart - 5/5
The Risks of Darkness - 5/5
Graham Hurley - DI Joe Faraday is a widower raising a deaf son. He is also a bird-watcher, and the first book in the series, Turnstone, takes its name from one of the many birds that live on the shores of the beaches around Portsmouth, where this series takes place. It's how he gets away from it all, when he needs to. It's interesting that in today's crime novel, detectives need to have some interest away from work, in order to keep their sanity. Something to balance the horror.
Faraday is set up against DC Paul Winter, who is a lone wolf in the detective force. Winter sets his own rules, and has directly wrecked one of Faraday's investigations in revenge for trying to reel him in. In the Portsmouth police force, there is as much betrayal within the police department as without. Most of all though, is Joe Faraday, who still makes the effort to connect to the people affected by the crimes, and through whose eyes Portsmouth the ancient port, once proud Naval bastion of England, comes to grips with grim, modern life. It's not a pretty city, but it does have its places of charm and beauty, despite the rampant crime the police face. This is a nitty-gritty police series, where every step of the investigation is detailed, and it's fascinating and gripping. There are 10 books in the series now, I've read three:
Turnstone
The Take
Angels Passing 4.5/5
Louise Penny: Inspector Gamache is from the Surete Du Quebec, the provincial police force called out on major crimes. The first three books are centered around Three Pines, which for a tiny village has alot of serious crime! Three Pines is so beautiful and cosy that everyone who reads about it wants to move there, myself included. It's not a real place, but is set in the real countryside of Quebec.
Inspector Gamache himself is unusual - quiet, charming, intelligent, and very, very observant. He also has a team of detectives under him, and pulled from nearby forces for local knowledge and help, that come with him when he goes out on cases. Over the three books I've read so far in the series, we've seen Gamache fight for his life with both the criminals and from betrayal within his force. He is so good at his job that he has incurred much jealousy, and in the third book, The Cruellest Month, it comes to a head. How Gamache escapes, and how a seance features, makes for a very creepy ending. The Cruellest Month was very good. Gamache's team are interesting because they vary from novices to experienced detectives, so we get a range of what working on an investigation - and the mistakes made - as well as the leaps of intuition that Penny has so skillfully written that we feel brilliant too, reading these books. Very, very entertaining. Penny is my personal favourite of our Canadian mystery writers.
All three of her books that I read, are linked in the post I did on Louise Penny last fall:
Still Life
Dead Cold
The Cruellest Month
Martin Edwards: DCI Hannah Scarlett heads up the newly formed Cold Case Review Team in England's beautiful Lake District. Aiding her is Daniel Kind, son of Scarlett's former detective partner, Ben Kind. When the series opens, Daniel comes to the Lake District in an effort to understand a little bit about his recently dead father, and ends up buying a cottage and staying with his girlfriend. As he gets to know the locals, he often investigates on his own initiative, though by The Cipher Gardens, the second book, both Hannah and Daniel are beginning to be aware they are attracted to one another. DCI Scarlett views her position on the Cold Case team as a setback, a punishment for failing on a big case before the series opens. She wants to get back to the real work, in the serious crimes division, but has realized that Cold Cases have their own satisfaction when they are solved.
Hannah Scarlett is interesting and I almost wish we could have more of her. I like her personal struggles as well as her professional ones. She is not a detective who has it all together, but because of this, we get to see her learn about herself as well as her team and the part of the Lake District she lives in. Daniel Kind is a fun character. He is a historian, which in the books they make comparisons to being a detective. Because these are cold cases, of course Daniel is used to questioning and looking for clues in historical facts and stories, and he easily slides into finding local knowledge, though not without some personal risk to himself. It's going to be interesting to see how this relationship develops. There is danger of course, as secrets long held are finally exposed. I'm really enjoying watching the Cold Case team decide if they should follow anonymous tips or letters received about old unsolved crimes or not. I've read two out of the existing 5 books in the series so far.
They are:
The Coffin Trail (read and reviewed earlier)
The Cipher Garden 5/5
The others are on my shelf, waiting their turn to be read this hot summer!
Jo Nesbo: You all know from my previous reviews (see links just below) how much I love Harry Hole. He's the detective I've fallen in love with. He is the loner here, the wild card, the one who goes off on his own, protected by his immediate boss when he would be thrown out of the force - mostly for insubordination, and not always telling his bosses exactly what he's doing until he's done it. But he gets results, almost always because Harry is persistent. Dogged. Determined. Heroic in the best sense of the word. Certainly not angelic and brings about his own problems. I love how he wants the truth, no matter how much it costs.
The Redbreast
Nemesis
All the above detectives wonder at times what they are doing in the police force, and that the job isn't what it used to be. There is a melancholy about these detectives as they fight their often lonely battle against crime, against criminals who don't care they are breaking the law, and often battle elements within the police force itself - pointless paperwork and staying within the law.
Mostly, these characters have become characters I care about, revealing the world we live in, often standing between us and the darkness that crime threatens to pull us all into. All of these books are very well-written, gripping adventures, heart-breaking in places, with excellent characters and interesting stories to tell. I have the next books in all the series lined up on my shelves to be read shortly. It seems to be a mystery reading summer for me.
What are you reading this summer? Is it unusual for you to be reading what you're reading, or do you have a normal summer fling - beach read - that you reach for when the temperature is hot and all you can do is read? Where you are, have you found you've been doing more reading or less, in our above-average hot summer?
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Last World Cup 2010 thoughts, it's hard when you have players on both sides.....
My heart is breaking. How is it possible to be happy that one team one won and so sad that the other lost? For sure half of my heart was with Spain, who had never made it this far in the World Cup before, who feature the wonderful Cesc Fabregas, already one of the best midfielders in the world and captain of my beloved Arsenal club. I'm such a huge fan of his and love watching him play. So I knew if they won, it would cement his skill and leadership qualities even further. He set up the winning goal! I was so happy to see Cesc lift the Cup, I am truly thrilled for him and for the Spanish team, who for sure have given hope back to their country as they fight economic woes. It was almost a perfect victory from a team that got stronger as the World Cup progressed, even though Fernando Torres, expected to be one of their key strikers, was fighting an injury and was not himself for most of the tournament. Most teams would crumble if one of their expected leaders and strikers had a bad tourament, but Spain got stronger. It was a very strong performance from them, and worthy of hoisting that gold trophy.
The other half of my heart though was with the Dutch, who had been to the finals two times before, oh so long ago. I have been half in love with this country's team ever since watching Dennis Bergkamp's fabulous volley up and away and over the heads and into the net from the far right side of the pitch. That was a beautiful goal and the exact moment I fell in love with the game, July 1998, the first year the World Cup was shown in full on a channel here in Canada. Going into this match I thought the Netherlands had a slight edge over who I wanted to win. I was wrong. I didn't know how much I wanted the Dutch to win today, until they lost.
I didn't cry until I saw the players still standing on the pitch while the Spanish team celebrated. They didn't want to leave, they didn't want it to be over, and no victory, again. Wesley Sneijder, and Robin Van Persie, who is the main striker for Arsenal also - did I say my heart was in half watching this game? A player from the club I support on either side? And there was Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, a former Arsenal player, who played the tournament of his life, who scored the amazing goal of the tournament in the semi-final that took the Dutch into the finals. When he was taken off the pitch late in the match today I turned to my husband and said, "Oh no, he's been marvelous defending, preventing at least three goals directly, what are they doing?" and sure enough, several minutes later, the winning goal came from the corner of the pitch he had been defending before. Now I know I really wanted The Netherlands to win the World Cup.
Afterwards, my 5 year old came up to me and said his favourite player had been Carlos Puyol, the Spanish defender who was superb in this game, and I agreed with him that he had been one of the outstanding players today.
Best of all, both kids were dancing to the World Cup Soccer song from South Africa:
as we heard the song for the final time. Wavin Flag, by K'Naan. What a wonderful song for a World Cup that was hosted not without problems, but with so much energy and spirit and goodwill that the South Africans, and indeed all of Africa, can be proud of. This was a fun World Cup, despite all the heartbreak and the joy. Maybe because of it. Because I believe that sometimes in defeat, we can find a way to win the next time. And there will be a next time. Not for all the Dutch players - or Spanish players, or any other team in the World Cup. A next time for all the national teams themselves, everywhere the world over, to try again to get to the World Cup, and then win it. Who knows? Maybe Canada will qualify next time around. Because more than anything, the World Cup is about dreams, and making them real.
Congratulations Spain, it took you so long, so many years and attempts, to find a way to win. You did it. Hurray! and Netherlands - thanks for playing so very very well. There were only minute differences between you and Spain. It was a game of inches. And thanks for breaking my half my heart, because now I know I love you.
Goodbye, World Cup 2010. It was fun, it was fabulous, it was surprising, it was often beautiful, and beyond words, it brought the world together for one precious month. It's the beautiful game.
*****Edited to add: Marg over at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader also wrote about the World Cup, here.
Let me know if you did also, Gentle Reader, and I'll add your link.
The other half of my heart though was with the Dutch, who had been to the finals two times before, oh so long ago. I have been half in love with this country's team ever since watching Dennis Bergkamp's fabulous volley up and away and over the heads and into the net from the far right side of the pitch. That was a beautiful goal and the exact moment I fell in love with the game, July 1998, the first year the World Cup was shown in full on a channel here in Canada. Going into this match I thought the Netherlands had a slight edge over who I wanted to win. I was wrong. I didn't know how much I wanted the Dutch to win today, until they lost.
I didn't cry until I saw the players still standing on the pitch while the Spanish team celebrated. They didn't want to leave, they didn't want it to be over, and no victory, again. Wesley Sneijder, and Robin Van Persie, who is the main striker for Arsenal also - did I say my heart was in half watching this game? A player from the club I support on either side? And there was Giovanni Van Bronckhorst, a former Arsenal player, who played the tournament of his life, who scored the amazing goal of the tournament in the semi-final that took the Dutch into the finals. When he was taken off the pitch late in the match today I turned to my husband and said, "Oh no, he's been marvelous defending, preventing at least three goals directly, what are they doing?" and sure enough, several minutes later, the winning goal came from the corner of the pitch he had been defending before. Now I know I really wanted The Netherlands to win the World Cup.
Afterwards, my 5 year old came up to me and said his favourite player had been Carlos Puyol, the Spanish defender who was superb in this game, and I agreed with him that he had been one of the outstanding players today.
Best of all, both kids were dancing to the World Cup Soccer song from South Africa:
as we heard the song for the final time. Wavin Flag, by K'Naan. What a wonderful song for a World Cup that was hosted not without problems, but with so much energy and spirit and goodwill that the South Africans, and indeed all of Africa, can be proud of. This was a fun World Cup, despite all the heartbreak and the joy. Maybe because of it. Because I believe that sometimes in defeat, we can find a way to win the next time. And there will be a next time. Not for all the Dutch players - or Spanish players, or any other team in the World Cup. A next time for all the national teams themselves, everywhere the world over, to try again to get to the World Cup, and then win it. Who knows? Maybe Canada will qualify next time around. Because more than anything, the World Cup is about dreams, and making them real.
Congratulations Spain, it took you so long, so many years and attempts, to find a way to win. You did it. Hurray! and Netherlands - thanks for playing so very very well. There were only minute differences between you and Spain. It was a game of inches. And thanks for breaking my half my heart, because now I know I love you.
Goodbye, World Cup 2010. It was fun, it was fabulous, it was surprising, it was often beautiful, and beyond words, it brought the world together for one precious month. It's the beautiful game.
*****Edited to add: Marg over at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader also wrote about the World Cup, here.
Let me know if you did also, Gentle Reader, and I'll add your link.
Monday, 5 July 2010
Blackout by Connie Willis
What a wonderful book. I read it in one day, which is lucky for me, because this book is written at such a breathless pace that it's a very difficult book to put down. Blackout is a return to Willis' time-travelling world set in 2150, which we saw previously in Dooms Day and Say Nothing of the Dog, featuring Mr Dunworthy as the head of the time travelling history department. In these books, Willis has created a science fiction world of time travel done by historians who go back in time to learn what history was really like. In this book, some of the time travellers - focusing on three specific time travellers, Merope, Polly and Michael - go back to England during WW2. They go to Dunkirk, the evacuation of the children from London to the countryside, and the beginnings of the Blitz - London in 1940. And from the opening lines as Colin searches for Polly to give her a message, to the last line when a mysterious 5th time traveller comes to London just as the bombs are about to fall, this book is enchanting. There is a fourth time traveller who we get part of the story for, but nothing in depth as the first three. That will come later, I expect.
I felt like I was really there during the Blitz, hearing the bombs fall, the airplanes as they droned over the city, the air raid sirens, the explosions. We see London through the eyes of Polly, who is undercover as a shopgirl, we see the evacuated children in the countryside through the eyes of Merope, who is working as a maid in the country house, and we see Dunkirk through Michael's eyes. The switch from character to character works very well here, and Willis is an expert at leaving the chapter just as things get interesting. I really could not put this book down. My only warning is that this is part one of two, as the publisher broke the book into two parts, and All Clear will be published in October of this year - thankfully, I do not have too long to wait!
This book is a great beach read. By this I mean, you could read it in one day, laugh out loud and cry, and come away completely satisfied. It is enjoyable, well-researched, filled with interesting characters and even has some funny moments, as well as some of the best secondary characters in all of fiction. Every character is memorable, and I really feel as if I had just taken a trip back to London my self.
Even though I qualify it as a beach read or excellent book to read in the heat (which means you can't do anything except read anyway, hurray for summer!), it does have some interesting ideas about history and time travel. If time travel existed, how do we know if our actions will affect history or not? Are we allowed to do anything, and if we do, what happens? does it matter if we get involved in locals' lives? In Willis' theory of time travel, the net - the transportation site to and from historical locations - won't let you in if you arrive at a crucial point in history because the danger of affecting it is too great. But Polly, Michael and Merope end up trapped in the Blitz, when their pick-up times pass and their nets won't open. If the science theory that observation changes the outcome of the experiment is applied to time travel, has Mr Dunworthy discovered too late that sending people back in time is more dangerous than anyone realized? That history has indeed been changed already? Even though time travel doesn't exist yet, these are questions I find myself asking while reading this book, which is a sign that even though I haven't been aware of it, Willis has been asking them all along. What does it mean to time travel? Is it safe? What happens when the way back home is temporarily closed? Are there any moments in time that it is safe to become part of, if you weren't there the first time around? Very interesting questions, I think. I'm really looking forward to Part Two in October.
10/10
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