A Fall of Challenges

I've been looking around at some of the many challenges out there right now and trying to figure out which I may be able to fit into my busy next few months. I haven't really finished up the last few challenges I've joined, but it is fun nevertheless, and gets me thinking about new things to read. After much deliberation, I've decided to join:


The Outmoded Authors Challenge
1 book over the next 6 months I think I can do. My choice(s) will come from the following authors:
Italo Svevo
Ivy Compton-Burnett
Elizabeth Bowen
Freya Stark




and



Carl's R.I.P Challenge

I missed out on this very fun idea last year so had to give it a try this year. I wasn't sure which Peril I wanted to choose, so have finally decided upon Peril the First - 4 books on the RIP theme.
My selections are:

The Mountains of Madness / H.P. Lovecraft
Perfume / Patrick Suskind
Ammie come home / Barbara Michaels
Whispers in the sand / Barbara Erskine


Alternates are : any of Ray Bradbury's eerie tales, or if I get really ambitious, Dan Simmons' tome The Terror.

*Update: I've just received Jan Underwood's Dayshift Werewolf and it's a perfect fit for this challenge. It is a book which won the 3-Day Novel contest a couple of years back and after the first story I'm already thinking it's a classic!

An Irresistible Reading Meme

I've seen this meme all over the place, most recently done by Kate, as well as its creator Dewey, Imani, Danielle, Eva, and varied others. It immediately made me think about my potential answers, so to get it out of my head, I'm now taking my turn.

What are you reading right now?
I always have a few on the go; currently in my bedside stack are I May be some time by Francis Spufford, Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (ready to start on it again along with Danielle), and a few ARCs: Turtle Valley by Gail Anderson Dargatz, October by Richard Wright, and My Mother's daughter, a memoir by Rona Maynard.

Do you have any idea what you'll read when you’re done with that?
Well, besides the next two on the bottom of the bedside stack, that depends on which challenges I decide to take up...I’m considering quite a few currently and will have to post about them this week.The two (mostly) certain ones are The Republic of Nothing by Lesley Choyce (a reread) and Mr. Skeffington by Elizabeth von Arnim.

What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now?
In the bathroom, none. That is the one room in the house I prefer to keep free of reading material.

What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
I don’t feel forced to read these days; if I don’t like it I don’t finish it. But when required by school or professional duties I have sometimes slogged my way through something dull. The one book I recall detesting was in Grade 11 English, when we had to read and discuss, interminably, The Citadel by A.J. Cronin. It was so predictable and so very dull.

What's the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?
I keep recommending the fantastic Swedish novel Doctor Glas by Hjalmar Soderberg, but I don’t think anyone I’ve mentioned it to has actually read it. Sigh.

Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they?
I hope so. I work with them!

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all?
I don’t recommend just one book to a lot of people I know - most of my family/friends aren’t really big readers. I try to match the person to a specific book according to taste (that’s actually one of my favourite parts of my job as well). That said, I'm often telling people they should read Enchanted April just because I love it so much. I have favourites in literary fiction, children's fiction, mysteries etc. and recommend them according to whoever I'm talking to.

Do you read books while you eat? While you bathe? While you watch movies or TV? While you listen to music? While you’re on the computer? While you're having sex? While you’re driving?
I really prefer to do one thing at a time, the only concession I make is that I do read and eat concurrently. I’ve made a valiant effort to read and watch tv but it just means I don’t know what is happening in either.

When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?
No, not tease, but they did hide their books when I was invited over to play.

What's the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn't put it down?
The very first time I ever stayed up all night reading was to finish To Kill a Mockingbird in Grade 11. The latest late night was for Frances Itani's Remembering the Bones, which I posted about in June. Great story.
For sheer entertainment value I think I stayed up until I'd finished the latest Earlene Fowler mystery a couple of weeks ago.

Reading some Self-Help

The Last Self-Help Book you'll ever need : repress your anger, think negatively, be a good blamer and throttle your inner child / Paul Pearsall
New York : Basic Books, 2006.


Now how could I resist a subtitle like that? Even though I read my share of self-help books, I've always been a bit suspicious of the whole movement. The proliferation of the pathologizing of every human behaviour bothers me. Most recently, an idea proposed by "The Secret" raised my ire; the idea that if you just think the right thoughts you will have everything you want. The logical corollary of this is that if you are poor, ill, or unhappy it is all your own fault, as you must be thinking the wrong thoughts. This book deals with those very issues, among others, and points out the lazy thinking and weak science behind most tenets of the self-help gospel.

The book discusses some broad subject areas, such as Health, Youth & Old Age, Livelihood, Family and Relationship. Pearsall describes what the self-help, or human potential, movement takes for granted in each area, then points out flaws with these assumptions. This is frequently done by elucidating the shortcomings of the studies these assumptions are based on, or by pointing out dissenting studies. Sometimes he just makes a flat statement: in regard to old age, he says "most of the self-help gurus of 'healthy aging' are relatively young. Their fear of what comes naturally with advancing years is evident in their recommendations about how to live longer yet avoid looking or feeling older...We need to reject the notion of an 'ageless body and a timeless mind'. "


I like some of his conclusions. He suggests that research shows repressing and dealing with your anger is better for you than venting, which just weakens your immune system, not to mention aggravating those around you. He also quotes a study which shows that some of the longest living people on earth were distinguishable by their pessimistic outlook; he disagrees with what he calls the "happiology" of the self-help movement, showing that it can slow healing during a health crisis by diverting energy from healing to the mental effort required to try to be relentlessly positive. I find the focus on "happiology" oppressive myself, it's one of the most irritating things for me in the self-help reading I've done. As Pearsall says here, sometimes "there isn't anything wrong with being depressed. Life and its transitions can be sad. Crying, moping and feeling sorry for ourselves when we're any age is not being 'dysfunctional'. It's being human."

His arguments are convincing, although at times they skirt a little close to feeling very personal. His awakening to the flaws in the self-help movement came when he was very ill and found that all the well-meaning self-help platitudes that people offered him were unhelpful and even distressing. Still, his focus on needing solid scientific support for these pop psychology ideas is necessary and certainly welcome for me.

Of course, he is not suggesting that all the psychology and self-help of our culture is useless; he merely advocates thinking deeply and critically about all propositions, including his own, rather than accepting them all unquestioningly as truth. His two primary points are 1) that we need to be mindful in our daily life - this mindfulness will improve our lives in itself and help with our ability to evaluate self-help topics, and 2) that community - interrelatedness - is more vital to a meaningful life than self-actualization. I agree with this to a point, and understand his concerns about Western society developing into a mass of narcissistic individualists. However, his discussion of the topic, especially in regard to the family, veers too close to a Stepford Wives scenario for me to feel comfortable with. I'm sure he does not advocate a return to the condition of female subjugation, but that is how I can imagine his words being seized upon by those unhappy with feminism.

Nevertheless, this was a thought provoking read that put into words some of my inchoate discomfort with pop psychology and the pathologizing of everyday life. I'll have to stop quoting him now, before I rewrite his entire book. But if this subject is of any interest to you, this book is worth reading.

Catching up with Yann Martel, Part 1

Bonjour Tristesse / Françoise Sagan

New York : Ecco, 2001, c1955.

I am quite far behind in my quest to read all the books that Yann Martel is suggesting to our Prime Minister. I have decided to skip two of the recent choices: first, the Bhagavad Gita, because I am simply not enthused enough to tackle it right now(although some of the features on the online site are tempting). The second is a book of short poetry from the UK that I can not get my hands on.

So that leaves me with 4 books to read and review. I've just finished Bonjour, Tristesse, a French classic. This book was shocking when it was first published (1955) because of the world-weary, sexually frank teenage narrator, Cécile. (The author was only 18.) It tells the story of a young woman who has finished up her convent schooling and now lives with her roué of a father, participating in his frivolous lifestyle. He always has a young woman on the go, and they live for parties, gambling and flirtations.

During the summer in which the book takes place, an old friend of her mother's, Anne, comes to stay with them on holiday. To Cécile's astonishment, the relationship between Anne and her father turns into a romantic one, even though, gasp, Anne is in her forties! (just like the father). Cécile is horrified at the idea of her father settling down, and at having a mother figure to run her life in a more disciplined manner. She puts into motion a plan to ruin their relationship by tempting her father into cheating with his most recent mistress, hoping to have Anne catch him at it and thus leave him.

By the time this plan has come to fruition, Cécile has changed her mind, and rather wants Anne to stay and organize their lives. But it is too late; as Cécile had planned, Anne catches her father in his moment of weakness and flees. Their lives are irrevocably altered, and as Cécile looks back on her part in that summer and accepts her culpability, she says hello to a sense of sadness/regret/unhappiness; bonjour to the perfect French term, tristesse.

This is a very French book, with that unmistakable "French-ness" to it, in theme and in execution. I found it interesting for its evocation of a sulky rich teenager spending a summer on the Riviera, and the interactions between she and her possible stepmother, who is quite a lovely, serious person. The love affair that Cécile is secretly embarked upon fills her head with summer, heat, and the life of the body, which is in direct contrast to Anne's focus on making her study while on holidays so that she will be sure to pass her exams. She is a precocious and self absorbed girl, who learns that trying to make everything go your own way can have results far beyond your imaginings. It is nostalgic and elegiac, and I appreciated it, but can't say this one will be ever be a reread.

Not if you were the last person on earth...

The Brief History of the Dead / Kevin Brockmeier

New York : Vintage, 2007, c2006.

252 p.

I read this brief history on my brief getaway, and I enjoyed the read. On mulling it over, I see some fatal flaws, but it was a good read while it was underway. The basic premise of this novel is that there is another world after this one; a great City in which everyone who dies remains as long as they are remembered by someone still alive. Once that last person who knew you personally dies, you pass on to the great unknown. This is a wonderful conceit, and of course to properly play with it, the author has to posit what would occur when the entire population of the earth, save one, dies simultaneously. This is what he indeed does; humanity is wiped out by a rapidly replicating virus known as "The Blinks", and the only person left alive on the entire planet is Laura Byrd, a scientist in Antarctica. She has been kept clear of infection due to the fact that her team's supplies have been damaged by storms and the other two scientists with her have set off for help. They never return, having been infected when they locate a recently arrived team of researchers carrying the virus. After a few weeks she realizes she is truly alone, and sets out on her own to find the research camp. She does, and finds 20 graves as well. She sets out again, this time to a penguin rookery where there should be radio equipment which she can use to contact the outside world. She arrives. The equipment is damaged beyond repair. At this point, near the end of the book, Laura succumbs to exhaustion, starvation and extreme frostbite. Simultaneously, the nether-city shrinks and shrinks, finally vanishing completely.

The idea of an afterlife City reminds me of the 1940's novel All Hallows Eve. In that novel, the City is dark and echoing with emptiness; the dead are pictured as being stranded, in a lifeless city, alone. In this novel, the City seems to operate just like a large urban centre, with apartments, restaurants, parks and so forth. The practical questions of sewage and garbage don't come up. The inhabitants eat and drink and work and philosophize much as they would while alive. The good part of this is that you meet various inhabitants and hear their stories of dying and arriving at the City. The not so good part of this is that you meet various inhabitants and hear their stories of dying and arriving at the City. The chapters alternate between the City and Laura, and after a while I really didn't care how or why the beggar on the corner or the teenage boys in the park died and made their way to the city. I really just wanted to find out what Laura was doing.

Placing Laura in Antarctica was clearly a necessary move -- where else would she be completely isolated from all human and animal life for an extended period of time? However, I felt that he did not use Antarctica to full advantage. There was no mystery for me in her trek across the ice. She moved quickly and without much difficulty except for the cold. The real story was the City, and Laura's experience of the Antarctic seemed like simply a convenient backdrop. It was ultimately unsatisfying for me; Laura does not seem to ever come to the realization that she is the last person alive on Earth, she does not seem to really pay attention to the world around her or feel sorrow or regret at leaving it. There is never any contact between the inhabitants of the City and Laura, so she doesn't experience a revelation of life after death. There are just too many loose ends in the philosophical set-up for it to fully convince me. I suppose I am the practical sort and couldn't just accept the idea of a "City of the Dead" which has no government, economy, or municipal services, yet people eat and function no differently than when alive. Nobody appears to have had any mystical experiences in death, nobody has been changed by dying. I feel that this novel didn't reach far enough.

It is an original piece of work, though, and will make you think (though hopefully not about unattended sewage, as I kept circling back to, sigh.) He brings up some intriguing ideas. At one point, one of the characters is trying to estimate how many people you might interact with in your life -- how many you would be keeping in the City -- and I defy anyone not to stop and wonder what your own number would be. The writing is generally quite good, the tone and style matched to the theme of memory and love and connection. Overall, though, it just doesn't hang together, at least for me. But if you want to read a literary-like fantasy that brings up some discussion points, give this a try. Also - the cover is great - very appealing and suited to the story.

Eating & Travelling

When one travels, as I did for the past few days, and one is a vegetarian, one must resign oneself to scavenging whatever one can.
Luckily, I came across a lovely restaurant, Brigadoon, in tiny Oxford Mills. It is situated in an old general store and the coat closet is the old safe. Love the huge, heavy, iron door! I was pleased by the fact they have an entire vegetarian menu -- you just have to ask for it. Most of it was pretty cheese heavy, a vegan might not do so well, but I was amazed that the menu even existed. I ended up having some heavenly asparagus and broccoli crepes with a garden salad. The parmesan sauce was very light, not too rich at all. The service was excellent too. What a nice change from fast food salads, which I'd been subsisting on for a couple of days. It's worth a visit if you're in the Ottawa area and enjoy that kind of British food and ambience. (they serve full afternoon tea as well; I wish I'd been sticking around longer!)
Anyhow, it was a highlight of the trip, along with the fact that we stumbled on 2 used bookshops one morning, though I bought only a few books. I was able to read a couple of them already, so some reviews will follow soon. Glad to be back to my own kitchen and my own teetering bookshelves, though!

Mysterious summer reading

Messenger of Truth / Jacqueline Winspear
New York : Henry Holt, c2006

I was sent this one as a review copy, and though it took me a few weeks to get to it, it is a great summer read. The series, of which this is the fourth installment, features Maisie Dobbs, Private Investigator. She is a wonderful character, a nurse in the war who has set up as a P.I. now the Great War has ended. It is set in London and has a very English sensibility. It reminds me a little of the wonderful BBC series Foyle's War, although it is set a few years later, in 1931. In Foyle's War, police Inspector Foyle deals with the social turmoil that arises on the home front during the War. In this series, Maisie Dobbs encounters the aftereffects of the Great War on English society. This particular novel also begins to discuss the difficulties arising with the beginnings of the Depression; overcrowding, poverty, social instability. She also realizes how this is affecting different classes of society in very different ways.

The story begins with the death of artist and war veteran Nick Bassington-Hope, who fell from his scaffolding the night before his first big exhibition. Scotland Yard considers it accidental death; Nick's sister Georgiana can not accept that, so hires Maisie. Her investigation takes her into the world of louche artists as well as into the upper reaches of society. The mystery itself is not as important as the social issues and period setting of the novel; if you're a fan of Maisie Dobbs already, you will likely enjoy this one, if not, I think it would help to start with the first book in the series, entitled Maisie Dobbs, and work your way forward. The development of Maisie's character is a large element in these stories, and is especially enjoyable when you begin with her introduction. A good choice for a lazy weekend, especially if you already know you like this period in English life.

Chilling out with YA fiction

Surviving Antarctica : Reality TV 2083 / Andrea White

New York : Eos, c2005

On Thin Ice / Jamie Bastedo

Calgary: Red Deer Press, c2006.

I've just read side by side two Young Adult novels, set at opposite ends of the planet. They are both interesting reads though quite different in approach.

The first, set in Antarctica, is a futuristic look at American society where education is gained solely by watching television, and the opportunity to go to college and have a resultant upper class life is decided by dice throw. Five teenagers, having lost their throw, are desperate enough to sign up for the latest reality show: Historical Survivor Antarctica. If they survive this reenactment of Scott's doomed 1910-1913 expedition they have a chance to win cash and an education. The problem is, they must survive. There have been many Historical Survivor shows before, and it is life and death. (my favourite: Historical Survivor Black Plague) To increase ratings, this show is using teenagers, but this idea backfires and becomes a rallying point for people to stand up against the excesses and unfair structures in their society. The novel starts a bit slowly, introducing each of the kids with their own chapter, and feeling a bit formulaic as a result. But it picks up as the group heads off for Antarctica, and their experiences trying to survive scripted catastrophes as well as the weather allow them each to find their strengths and to bond as a team. The plotting is pretty straightforward and predictable, but the futuristic setting is possible enough that it may spark some thought and discussion among teens who read it. An important element of the book's theme is the need to work for the common good and to stand up for what is right. It's an important message, and it is told in a light and entertaining manner. It's a fun read, full of historical tidbits about Scott's Expedition. For these reasons alone, I think it would make a good summer read. But there is also the bonus of reading about blizzards and ice and frostbite while sweltering in the August sun. :)

The second, On Thin Ice, is set in the present day in the Canadian Arctic. Ashley is part Inuit, and after her family moves to the town of Nanurtalik she begins dreaming of polar bears. Her shamanic dreams affect what happens to the town. She must learn about her family history from her grandmother and her strange Uncle Jonas, who carves powerful bears from firestone. He also drums and sings, all of which Ashley discovers once he awakens from years of seizures and sleep. Ashley's growing struggle to accept her shamanic heritage and her artistic gifts play out over a year of upset in her village. There are freak storms, the first polar bear sighting in 30 years, and even a jet crashing into the tundra. Her connection to polar bears is also discussed in relation to climate change and how that affects everyone in the Arctic, human and animal alike. (The cover carries the logo of the World Wildlife Fund). I was impressed by this novel; the author lives in the Northwest Territories and works with teens, and his familiarity with his subjects comes through. I found it to be well structured, and a very informative glimpse at a unusual way of life. It provides lots of excitement, some wilderness information, wonderfully entertaining family dynamics, and a likeable and unique main character. I'll recommend this one for people interested in a different way of looking at the Arctic. The author's website is also full of resources about climate change, polar bears, the Arctic and his other books.

All that Glitters

All that Glitters / Martine Desjardins; trans. by Fred Reed & David Homel
Vancouver: Talonbooks, c2005

I recently read Desjardins' extraordinary Fairy Ring, so looked up her second book. This is a shorter novel, set in Flanders during WWII. It is the story of Canadian and inveterate gambler Simon Dulac, who is enlisted in the military police. His interest in the war is that it gives him the chance to roam around an unsettled France, looking for the treasure that the Knights Templar left buried somewhere in Flanders centuries before. It is a nod to the codes and mysteries of books like The Da Vinci Code, but told in the surreal manner of her previous novel. The two supporting characters are Dulac's Lieutenant Peakes, a man obsessed with metalwork as well as rebuses and secrets, and nurse Miss Nell, who became a field nurse in order to practice suturing wounds, something nurses were not normally permitted to do at the time. She sutures them not with neat black stitches, but with fanciful embroidery, usually in a form of a rebus related to the patient's name. She also practices on herself; she has a feather stitched into the interstice between her thumb and forefinger, and eventually shows Dulac the rebus embroidered within her cleavage - a many-rayed sun with an "N" in the centre.

Dulac struggles to interpret the clues he serendipitously comes across, and thinks he has figured out where to look for the fabled treasure. His lieutenant, injured by a bomb blast and then fitted with a metallic half mask, is now behind lines and has time to use his genius at codes to puzzle out the revealed clues. He finally reveals to Dulac the 'true' interpretation of these clues, and it is a sudden revelation of how the things Dulac struggled to invest with meaning can be seen in a completely different manner. He should have kept in mind the proverb suggested by the title! It's a bit of wink at the obsession with mysterious treasures and conspiracies, but it does feel a bit abrupt, leading to a quick and dire conclusion.

I liked the war setting; it made sense to use this time period for this story, and she paints a clear picture of opportunists at war. The writing style is brief and unsentimental, which adds to the feeling of dissociation from society that all the participants seem to feel. The combination of war, secrets and codes, hidden treasures, and the strangeness of embroidered skin are woven together to make a fascinating reading experience. I actually enjoyed Fairy Ring more, but perhaps that was because I enjoyed the form (epistolary) and arctic themes more directly. Still, I'm glad I made the effort to seek this one out, and was rewarded by discovering something unusual.

But not for me : a romance

But not for me / Mary Burchell
Don Mills, ON : Harlequin, c1971.

This is a guilty pleasure, a book I've reread a few times over the years. I read it first as an impressionable teenager without much discretion as to what I read, as long as it was narrative it was fine by me. But I enjoyed this one without quite figuring out why. Lately I've realized that it includes shades of Pride & Prejudice, and although I read this little paperback before P&P, there was that as yet unknown reflective glow that appealed to me.

The basic plot: Ariane Dobson, daughter of a lace manufacturing family, must marry into the distastefully modern yet wealthy Muldanes to maintain her family's fortunes. She becomes engaged to one brother while falling into unrequited love with another. She struggles with various obstacles until, this being a Harlequin, everything falls out right at the end.

There is more to this than suggested however. I enjoy it for its plot similarities to P&P; for example, Ariane first meets the hero at a neighbourhood ball, where she overhears him insulting her. The hero's younger brother Frank is a bit Bingley-like, and ends up marrying Ariane's best friend Carolyn. There is a wordly woman similar to Caroline Bingley who also has her eye on the hero. The hero is tall, dark and handsome -- and rich -- and marriage is a key plot element. But beyond these tenuous similarities, also entertaining is the very old-fashioned prose, which I can only hear as if in a snobby English accent. Some examples:


It was quite a short drive to the Assembly Rooms where the ball was being held, and Ariane scarcely had time to feel nervous again before entering...the really beautifully proportioned hall, which dated back to Regency times. (more Austen references?)
or
I suppose there are always a few times in your life when duty isn't just an old-fashioned word. It's something very -- real, and, if you're worth anything at all you act on it.


But perhaps I enjoy it most for the idea that Ariane, the good daughter, the reliable friend, the sensible, dutiful, faithful, kind girl, wins out in the end by virtue of, well, her virtue. The glamorous movie star is rejected by the hero in favour of Ariane because of her "sweetness and sincerity". As a goody-two-shoes in my teens, this was probably the element that caught me and made me read this over, and over...
So now you all know my reading secret - a Harlequin is one of the books on my keeper shelf!

Jane Austen's Juvenilia

This week I read Jane Austen's The Watsons and the collection of short bits entitled Lesley Castle, both published by Hesperus Press.

The Watsons is a good beginning to a novel; the characters are quite sharp and unpleasant and it would have been intriguing to see Austen in a darker vein. However, as said in the introduction, Austen's unpleasant life situation (father's death and resultant worries about female dependance and survival) was parallelled by the story while she wrote, and perhaps she just didn't want to dwell on the dire possibilities in her fiction. The relationships between sisters and the attractions of a rich charmer compared to a more serious man are important elements which she seems to have carried through in other works. How I wish she would have continued with this! Nevertheless, it is worth reading as extra Austen once you've read and reread the six novels.

Lesley Castle is a collection including the epistolary fragment it is named for, which was written by Austen at 16. It is amusing, filled with entirely shallow women being catty about one another, for example, a London lady says to her country friend:

How often have I wished that I possessed as little personal beauty as you do; that my figure were as inelegant; my face as unlovely; and my appearance as unpleasing as yours! But ah! what little chance is there of so desirable an event.

If finished, this satirical take on the epistolary novel would have stood beside her satirical take on the gothic novel, Northanger Abbey. This collection also includes the family amusement A History of England. It is a series of sketches and tongue-in-cheek paragraphs on some of England's rulers. It is obvious it was written for home entertainment as it includes instructions for a charade, which I assume she performed. The last piece is Catherine. It details Catherine's way through the world once taken in by a maiden aunt on the death of her parents. This aunt is quite strict, and Catherine's taking up with a young man is met with some disapproval. When the fragment concludes, her love interest has left England and she is at loose ends. There is so much potential in this story; Catherine is a wonderful creation and I would have liked to hear her complete story. I think it's interesting just to see how some of the themes of her later books are being worked over even while she's a young writer, especially knowing the mastery of her later works. It's fascinating to read these bits for that look into the writer's mind.

It's a pleasure to read more of Jane Austen's work and think of how much more she could have written & published. I preferred reading the beginning of The Watsons and trying to imagine what she would have made of it, more so than reading all the current 'redos' of Austen, some of which have been quite pedestrian indeed. Except for one favourite, Mary Street's The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy, which is excellent; quite Austen-like in tone and diction. Though I read it in a large print edition with horrendous cover art, I see it is being rereleased in paperback next spring. Finally!

Night@the Library

This week as part of the summer program at my workplace, we offered Night at The Library. It worked on the same basic premise as Night at the Museum; we had staff and volunteers who dressed up as storybook characters come to life. It was a mad crush, people packed in shoulder to shoulder yet happy as anything, enjoying themselves. Wonderful stuff. It's amazing how dressing up cheers everyone up! All the costumes were great, but one of my favourite things was the Talking Frog Prince, an Ikea stuffed frog dolled up with a webcam and Skype, and it was a hit. Our resident programmer is always brilliant, but I think she outdid herself this time! In the background of the top middle photo you can see our CEO dressed as Sir Galahad; a good choice for him as he is a very kind and chivalrous guy, lucky us.

The Veg "Muff"

Due to popular demand, here is one of my favourite foods to eat, explained. The Muffaletta (familiarily known as The Muff) is a classic New Orleans sandwich. It is generally made with provolone & mozzarella cheese, two kinds of cold cuts, and most importantly, a good & tangy olive salad. It is made on a special bread, one which kind of resembles a ciabatta.


My favourite vegetarian version, though perhaps heretical to purists, is made with thinly sliced grilled eggplant replacing the cold cuts. There are many versions; some use "fake meat" cold cuts to replace the original, some use portobellos, some use eggplant, some even use artichoke burgers. The vital ingredient is the olive salad. I found a recipe for a classic New Orleans style mix which makes the sandwich feel nicely authentic.


You hollow out the bottom of the loaf slightly, to make more room for the olive salad, and pile it in. Stack slices of eggplant and provolone on top, brush some of the salad marinade on the remaining slice of loaf and press it down. Heat it up nicely so that the cheese is all melty. Slice into portions. Mmmm. You can press it and have it cold for a picnic or whatnot, but I do love the melty cheese.