My Great Books of 2012

Better late than never, here is a list of the books that I loved reading over the past year. There were a few duds but I'll save those for another list because, kind of like reading terrible restaurant reviews, I love reading about books people didn't like. Of course, everyone has a different opinion which makes it all the more interesting and you never know whether you'll agree with them or not.

I read mostly fiction but the two non fiction books, Quiet and Cleaning House, were excellent and so relevant to my own life. I wasn't very good about keeping up with my Goodreads reviews but fortunately lots of other people have. I find Goodreads to keep track of what I've read and for suggestions form other people.

So, without further ado, my Top 10 List for 2012:

1. Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver (my all-time favourite author and climate change warrior)
2. The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty (lovely story set in the roaring twenties)
3. The Summer Before the Storm by Gabriele Wills (a fun find by a local self-published author)
4. Quiet by Susan Cain (particularly appropriate since I am not)
5. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thomson Walker (a YA book that satisfied my love for all things post-Apolcalypic)
6. The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown (funny, literary and sisterly)
7. Coppermine by Keith Ross Leckie (an historical Who Dunnit set in the North)
8. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain (Hemmingway, larger than life from his wife's point of view)
9. Clean House by Kay Wills Wyma (how to save your children from a pervasive sense of entitlement)
10. Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (took me two tries to get into it)

What were your favourites of the past year?

Snow Dog on a Snow Day

A few Random Tuesday thoughts:

• Exams begin for No. 1 Son on Friday so it's actually helpful that today is a Snow Day and he can actually study in between ski training and hockey practice.
• My Other Half had a very successful boat show, seems the economy is finally turned around enough for people to willingly open their wallets. Now if we can just get the water levels back up in the Bay so all those shiny new boats don't end up on the rocks.
• I'm helping out a friend who has launched a wonderful line of clothing for we "women of a certain age" Take a look at Helene Clarkson Designs.

Christmas Reading Wish List

I have been making a list and checking it twice and I'm going find out what's naughty or nice. Here's my Christmas Reading Wish List thanks to CBC's Canada Reads, Book Riot and a few friends recommendations on Goodreads.


Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

Away by Jane Urquhart

Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

February by Lisa Moore

Two Solitudes by Hugh McClennan

The Age of Hope by David Bergen

If you have any other suggestions please let me know.

My New Favourite Song

Not Quite Wordless Wednesday

Anne at The Red Chronicles posted about a new production which brings together one of my favourite children's authors and theatre groups in Toronto. I don't think I'll get to see this but I love knowing that Dennis Lee's poetry is alive and well and making yet another generation laugh.

And from my brother who likes to poke fun at me and my all-consuming on-linedness.

And, of course, a few Instagram shots from the weekend

Clinging to Fall

Slowly sinking 

Cartwheeling

Bubble Brothers

Friday Fragments

• My lovely friend Alexa Reigh of the fantastic blog Your Inner Gosling  introduced me to the Vancouver indie band Said the Whale and their video which is so cute although a wee bit creepy at times. But creepy in a good way. 
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• My eldest son left for Colorado this morning, lucky guy and made his first solo flight due to my OH screwing up the dates he was flying. Luckily I was printing out all his paperwork on Monday and noticed that the flight down was booked for Thursday not Friday with the rest of his ski team. I panicked, called my OH who said that someone else messed up. To which I replied, "Doesn't matter whose fault it is, he's going to get to Denver 24 hours before everyone else." I emailed an old friend to have her on standby to pick Ben up at the airport on Thursday and bring him back on Friday to meet the rest of the group but was actually able to switch his flight and unbelievably, it didn't cost me anything, they even owe me $30! The only down side was that he was on his own but would meet the rest at the other end. And he wasn't alone going through security and customs in Toronto as my OH had to head back down to Florida for another boat show and he timed his flight to leave just after Ben's so they could go through together.

• I went to my younger sons' school Remembrance Day assembly which brings me to tears every year. We have a military base nearby and there is always an active soldier who speaks to the kids. This year there were only three WWII veterans attending this year and I guess soon enough there will be none. Unfortunately there are still far too many younger veterans who can represent our country's military.

• I love the Lest We Forget movement which asks people not to put up their Christmas decorations until after the 11th. I've never been much of a early glitter and tinsel girl so our decorations don't go up until the first week of December and I was thrilled when I heard that customer complaints forced Shoppers Drug Mart to turn off the Christmas music they began playing as soon as the Halloween candy was off the shelves. They are waiting until Monday to start Jingle Bell Rocking although they have already Decked the Halls, of course.

• Better get my act together to face the weekend on my own with Sons Number Two & Three. 

My Operating System is Out of Date

Barbara Kingsolver has always been one of my favourite authors from her early novels like The Bean Trees to a collection of essays on motherhood in High Tide in Tuscon and her foray into non-fiction in Animal Vegetable Miracle but I stumbled across the website The Daily Good and a Convocation address she gave in 2008 and it really resonated with middle-aged me.

"Because of your age." It's okay now to deck out and turn up as the village idiot. Hooray! I am old enough. How does this happen? Over a certain age, do you become invisible? There is considerable evidence for this in movies and television. But mainly, I think, you're not expected to know the rules. Everyone knows you're operating on software that hasn't been updated for a good while."


That just about sums up how I am feeling these days, like my software needs an upgrade. Of course the rest of the address goes much deeper into where our world is headed and she is rather prophetic seeing what has been happening in the last few months.