Women in Translation Month at an end

Well, that's it then... the end of the official Women In Translation Month readalong.


But it is most definitely not the end of reading women in translation.

This month, thanks to Meytal's initiative in getting the project underway 3 years ago, and keeping stats on the numbers when it comes to women and the world of translation, I've discovered a plethora of new titles to read next. And I've also discovered some amazing new bloggers who are going to be so much fun to follow from now on.

Here are just a few of the titles I'd like to pick up soon:


Grand Hotel by Vicki Baum (reviewed at JacquiWine's Journal)

Subtly Worded by Teffi  (reviewed at Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings)

The Vegetarian by Han Kang (reviewed at Biblibio) -- just one more reason to read this!

The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz (reviewed at Shiny New Books)

Baba Dunja's Last Love by Alina Bronsky  (reviewed at The Writes of Woman)

A True Novel by Minae Mizumura  (reviewed at Tony's Reading List)

And here are a few of the titles I already have handy, ones I'd considered reading this month, from my own shelves and from my local library. I'll never go short-handed when it comes to books!

A Wrinkle in Time: How Timely

So Chelsea Clinton gave a very bookish speech tonight. Very inspiring to hear her mention Pride & Prejudice & A Wrinkle in Time among others -- and to hear a shout out to libraries!

Apparently this caused these titles to trend on twitter almost immediately. I do hope it will also encourage people to read them, especially this one. A Wrinkle in Time is an exquisite read, and it is also a perfect one for right now. 

The Murry family is made up of many misfits, especially Meg, icon to smart gawky adolescent girls everywhere. They're all clever; her parents are also brilliant scientists. They are always committed to the good; to peace, to inclusivity, to understanding. And they are also under attack, via Meg's father, by an hateful overlord of another planet, Camazotz. His shtick is control of his planet through fear and hate. Meg's final freedom comes when she faces down IT on Camazotz, and defeats him.

As long as I stay angry enough IT can't get me.
Is that what I have the IT doesn't have?
"Nonsense," Charles Wallace said. "You have nothing that it doesn't have." 
"You're lying," she replied, and she felt only anger toward this boy who was not Charles Wallace at all. No, it was not anger, it was loathing; it was hatred, sheer and unadulterated, and as she became lost in hatred she also began to be lost in IT.... with the last vestige of consciousness she jerked mind and body. Hate was nothing that IT didn't have. IT knew all about hate...
....suddenly she knew.
She knew!
Love. 
That was what she had that IT did not have.
She had Mrs. Whatsit's love, and her father's, and her mother's, and the real Charles Wallace's, and the twins', and Aunt Beast's.
And she had her love for them.

I believe that this message of love as the only response to hate and fear resonates now, even for those of us who aren't Americans. It's a wider message that bears repeating. And this book shares it in a beautifully accessible way. 

Time to reread it. All together now.

 

Bests of the Reading Year 2013

Time again for the yearly roundup of favourites... I like to wait until the very last minute in case something spectacular pops up at Christmas... and I also like to create a statistical summary of my year for interest's sake. Mostly my own interest, and I do hope that no-one thinks that reading should be competitive -- Nymeth wrote a great summary of "why stats" in her yearly roundup post, and I think it describes my take on stats pretty closely as well. 



Total Reading: 163

Authors

Female: 108
Male: 53
Nongendered (multiple authors): 2

Genre etc.

Fiction: 119
Non Fiction: 41
Poetry: 3

In translation: 

French (Quebecois): 2
French: 1
Portuguese: 1
Hungarian: 1
German: 1

My Own Books: 78
Library Books: 85

Review Copies:  16
(Last year I was  feeling that I'd taken on too many review copies, as I feel obliged to read all of the books I ask for ... this is nearly half of last year's total & much more manageable!)

Rereads: 8
E-reads: 11

As usual, I seem to have twice as many female authors than male; a balance between library books and my own; a handful of rereads; and I heavily lean toward fiction. Not many surprises there! I have fallen in the number of translations I read this year, and have read fewer e-books as well. Not sure why for either of those things -- just the way things fell out this year. 

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And now for my Best Reads of the Year! This year I found a widely varying range of reads. I read some that I've owned for years, some new releases fresh from my library, and a few 'required reads' for various projects that were a mixture of good and meh.

Here are my favourite reads of the year, based on my personal enjoyment of them. Whether it was the writing, the characters or some special element of the story, each of these books was memorable in its way. They are not ranked in any order, except for order of reading.

Fiction

Okay, these were my 2 absolute faves!

Speaking From Among the Bones / Alan Bradley

I love Flavia de Luce and this volume of her adventures was particularly thrilling -- I am so eagerly anticipating the next one in this series, out shortly, to follow up on the cliffhanger ending of Speaking From Among the Bones!


Sir Charles Grandison / Samuel Richardson

I finally read this door-stopper of a novel, inspired by my Postal Reading Challenge to take it down off the shelf. Despite its excessive size, it turned out to be one of my very favourite reads of the year. It had humour, adventure, great characters, astonishing relevance (despite its 1753 publication date), and was such a great read! Since it was so very long, I wrote about it in segments: First Thoughts, and then Second Thoughts, and lastly, Final Thoughts!

Astray / Emma Donoghue

I don't often love short story collection; admire, yes, find interesting, yes, but this collection I really did love.  Donoghue writes tales sparked by historical incidents and with the exception of one story, I was drawn in and dazzled by this collection.

When I Was Young and In My Prime / Alayna Munce

This was my most unexpected discovery of 2013, and a wonderful one. A poetic and highly individual narrative about a girl, her family, and memory, this packed an emotional wallop and beautiful writing as well.

A Tale For the Time Being / Ruth Ozeki

This was probably tied with Sir Charles Grandison as my favourite read of the year. It's great, everybody says so ;) After a bit of a slow start, I couldn't stop reading this and was surprised and astonished by how it all turned out. Excellent, excellent book.

Life After Life / Kate Atkinson

I'm in the camp of those who loved this book. One to read all in one go, I think, to get the full immersive experience of Ursula's birth, death, rebirth, death, etc. etc. Even with its flaws, I thought this was a masterful tale and extremely memorable too.

An Unsuitable Attachment / Barbara Pym

My favourite Pym from a year of multiple Pym readings. This one was just my thing, as much of it takes place in a library, and the action, characters, and sly wit all amused me greatly.

The Golem and the Jinni / Helene Wecker

A book recommended by bloggers, I enjoyed this long, imaginative novel about a golem and a jinni in turn-of-the-century New York. It brought up issues of identity and belonging along with its fantastical premise, blending it all into a thoughtful story.

The Antagonist / Lynn Coady

A modern epistolary novel told in emails, this screed by Gordon "Rank" Rankin to an old friend, now novelist, who has co-opted his life story (as Rank sees it) crackles with energy, angst, pathos and a touch of aggression as well.

My Ghosts / Mary Swan

I'm actually quite surprised that I haven't heard more about this Canadian novel yet -- published in September it seems to have just quietly appeared. It's an excellent, thoughtful look at families down the years. Who are we and what part do our memories play in our identity? And what happens when you don't know your forebears but you are so much like them? It is beautifully written, a slow moving study of the tangled branches of a family tree.

Brown Girl in the Ring / Nalo Hopkinson

For sheer imaginative power I think this tops nearly anything else I've read this year. Apocalyptic Toronto, magic, spirits, street kids, gang members, drugs, unhealthy love... while it might sound like the headlines this year, this book was a fascinating imaginative journey.

NonFiction 

Threading Light / Lorri Neilsen Glenn

Such a gorgeous, tiny read. Grief, poetry, carrying on; all are themes in this powerful book.


Comfort Food for Breakups / Marusya Bociurkiw

This set of essays really caught me this year; all about food, family and identity, they reveal a reflective mind at work, capturing big ideas in small, daily moments.


An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth / Chris Hadfield

I worried needlessly that this would be a fluff book -- instead it turned out to be a solid read with great life advice: work hard and enjoy the journey. While not perfect, it was still a great read by a fascinating character who we all wanted to know more about this year.

A Year in First Lines

My new calendar!

I'm not sure how this past year flew by quite so quickly but here we are at the end of it. It's already time for my yearly meme, A Year in First Lines!

The "rules" are simple: Take the first line of each month's post over the past year and see what it tells you about your blogging year.


January: It's a New Year! And I couldn't resist creating a new challenge of my own, which came to me as I was making my resolutions. {the Postal Reading Challenge}

February:  I was in Toronto for a library conference for the last few days (great, by the way) and made some time on my lunch break to whiz over to Toronto's First Post Office on February 1st to kick off Letter Month! 

March:  All of this last month (February) I've been participating in Letter Month. This is something I only discovered in January, so it was my first time joining in, which I did immediately upon finding it -- as I am already a big lover of stationery, postal mail and all its ephemera. 

April:  So it's April again, and already, and I didn't get any poetry month celebrations planned out!

May:  Another epistolary read, [Where'd You Go, Bernadette] has been repeatedly recommended to me. 

June:  For the first day of Barbara Pym reading week, hosts Thomas and Amanda have shared how they met Barbara Pym. 

July:  Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canucks -- hope you are having a wonderful long weekend!

August:  I've been enjoying some time off from my day job, but it's been a bit of a busman's holiday. Of course.

September: On my Western kick after reading The Cowboy & The Cossack, I decided to read one of the most famous Westerns of all, by an author I have read other titles from previously. {Riders of the Purple Sage}

October:  What a delight this book was! It's the story of Canadian writer Jane Christmas, newly engaged but also wanting to explore her lifelong urging toward the contemplative life.  {And Then There Were Nuns}

November:  Another book by Cary Fagan, this is a collection of short stories that I read a while ago now, just before his novel A Bird's Eye was released. {My Life  Among the Apes}

December:  To get myself into the Christmas spirit, I picked up this small collection of stories by the great Connie Willis, author of numerous books I have loved. {Miracle, and other Christmas Stories}

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So it looks like my year was full of reading challenges, letters, and book reviews...hmmm, much the same as always! My summer holidays were reflected in my July & August posts, and April shows that I was falling down on the job a little ;) Overall, a pretty good reading year in 2013.

I hope you'll play along and post yours too -- if you do, feel free to leave a link in the comments so we can all check out your first lines as well!

Bits & Bobs

I've been running across a few really interesting tidbits on my perambulations around the net lately. Wanted to share a couple that my bookish readers may also find interesting!

Here's the notes for a talk (plus bibliography) on Reading Without Spoilers -- so interesting I wish I could have attended the talk! The author discusses the importance of being able to read immersively without relying on predigested plot summaries etc -- the experience of reading is the important thing. This is on Academia.edu, a favourite site of mine because so many people are doing fascinating research and sharing it freely!

The National Reading Campaign (a Canadian initiative I absolutely love and been following since they began 3 years ago) has just completed a survey on Pleasure Reading. They have a lot of neat reading research available on their blog, you should check it out!

And not exactly research based, but wonderful, I came across this pattern on one of the sewing sites I frequent -- The Poetry Skirt

You can download this pattern for only
$4.00 and get right to it!

What poem would YOU embroider on a skirt? Emily Dickinson? PK Page? Wallace Stevens -- or a Stevens parody that's perfect for this use (a brilliant piece btw)? 

Lively Excitement!

Holy cow, how did I miss this? Penelope Lively has a new book out! It's a memoir of sorts, a meditation on age. It's called Ammonites and Leaping Fish, and is a look back at her long life of reading and writing, through six objects that she has gathered and cherished (surprise, ammonites and a leaping fish potsherd are part of these objects).

I can not wait to read it -- it's available in Canada in February from what I can tell and I am so excited to see it! Can not wait to get my hands on it :)

A little more info on this book can be found at The Guardian, as it is apparently out and buyable in the UK, and has been for a while, lucky Brits.

Travels & Tidbits

I've been enjoying some time off from my day job, but it's been a bit of a busman's holiday. Of course. I did take some time to do some farmer's marketing, but then, we headed off to explore a nearby used bookshop, The Old Goat, in Waterloo. Did I find some treasures? You might say so. Here is what I found:

You will also notice a lovely new journal I received in the mail today from Canada Writes. Nice!

The most unexpected find was the Persephone paperback -- I've never seen any Persephone in a used bookstore yet, so I grabbed this one. And this particular title, Someone at a Distance by Dorothy Whipple, was one I've been really wanting to read!

*And just one more photo, this one of another bookstore trip -- this is a great staycation ;) We really scored on this trip, and I discovered a new bookshop, Attic Books, in London, Ontario. Good selection and great prices! Most of these books came from Attic, with a handful found at 3 other shops.

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Another interesting tidbit that has come to my attention...

The first title I recommended in my occasional "Revivals" series (my suggestions for republication) was Luella Creighton's High Bright Buggy Wheels. Now I have serendipitiously discovered that Oxford University Press Canada is going to be reissuing it! And despite that fact that there is no causal link between these two happenings, they've set the date of publication for my birthday...weird...;)

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I am still reading along in my own Postal Reading Challenge. I've been both writing more letters and noticing postal ephemera much more frequently as a result. Lately I saw this trunk in my local fabric store. Just the right size to store a blanket or two...or lots of stationery... I was particularly tickled by it since my sister was in Cairns, Australia very recently and sent me photos, as well as flyers and materials, from the Cairns Library (doing my busman's holiday duties for me).

I also came across this delightful new picture book at work last week, The Day the Crayons Quit. It looked charming, but imagine my surprise when I opened it and discovered that it is a marvellous, epistolary picture book! I snapped a couple of photos to give you the idea. This is one that I will be adding to my own collection, too. (see more images at Jeffers' website)

First page

RED -- each crayon gets a say & they
are all amusing & quirky

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So there you have a rambling take on what I've been up to recently. I promise that we will return to regular programming soon. But lately I have been so busy reading I have not been reviewing! Summer blahs, perhaps. I'm enjoying lazing in the sun with a book too much to remember to log on or blog on...

Shelf Talkin'

I had a fun opportunity to create something at work this week -- we had a "craft time" moment in our staff development day, inspired by the work of local author Marthe Jocelyn. Marthe recently published a book called Sneaky Art, featuring random acts of public art that kids can make, things that will surprise people and hopefully bring a smile to their day. Some of the photos in the book even featured our library!

So we took inspiration from one of her ideas, and created our own shelf-talker "conversation bubbles" to stick into books on the shelves, suggesting content, or perhaps a reading situation which a book might suit. After pondering for a while, I came up with this theme:

This is a view of my staycation bubble as you're walking down the aisle. Below I've turned it around to catch the sun, and so I can show you which book I chose. While Astrid & Veronika is not light summer reading, it does take you away into a Swedish summer, with a very memorable scene in which the two main characters decide to go swimming at the lake...so if you can't get away, read yourself away.

Barbara Pym, and Life Moves On

This is a weekend miscellany, a few bookish thoughts to share today.

First of all, I am saying farewell to Pym Reading Week. Many thanks to Thomas at My Porch for alerting me to this readalong event and for his hosting. Check out his wrap-up posts for numerous links to some Pym love! Considering that I didn't know if I would participate until a few days beforehand, I have really enjoyed this week, and read some more Pym from my Pym Pile, and found new bloggers who are also Pym readers. And discovered many recommendations for authors to follow up with... Angela Thirkell, Hazel Holt, Anita Brookner, Iris Murdoch, the Penelopes (Lively & Fitzgerald), Catherine Fox, Stella Gibbons... who all have some level of similarity to elements in Pym.

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A little late to the game I've discovered Alex in Leeds' Book Jar. It's a wonderful concept, reminds me of something faintly similar I did as a  young teen, and had completely forgotten about. She's already read & reviewed 3 titles pulled at random from her jar. Take a look -- would you keep a TBR this way?

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Last but not least, it's time to start thinking about the next round of the Canadian Book Challenge! It is Year 7, and I'm looking forward to another fun year of reading 13 Canadian books from July 1/13 - July 1/14. John at Book Mine Set hosts this one, and it is very simple: read anything Canadian, and review it online to share. I've enjoyed this for the last six years and am already pondering a theme for year 7... even if you don't join in, be sure to check out his compilations of links for all of the previous years. It's a treasure trove of Canadian book suggestions!

Pym: A Cover Story

Thomas of My Porch has issued a challenge this week for all we Pym readers... he suggests creating one's own cover for a Pym novel. While this is a rather intimidating idea, especially considering his fascinating post on the original, much admired, designer of the Dutton Pyms, Jacqueline Schuman, I thought I'd give it a go.

Since I read and enjoyed An Unsuitable Attachment so much this week, I thought I'd riff on the library content and try to create something with a library motif. Thanks to the very fun catalog card generator, and of course Flickr's Creative Commons, I began. Note that I am not a very good photo editor/manipulator!

First was this tea-themed faded glamour:

(teacup image via a bevy of, Flickr)

I liked this image, but didn't think it quite worked. The card doesn't meld in enough, my designer skills are pretty crap, as I mentioned. 

So then I thought, well, go minimalist! Library all the way, and got:

(card catalogue drawer image from j l t via Flickr)

I actually rather like this one. Looks like a punchy reissue, nothing girly about it at all. And the card acts as title & author as well, something I've always thought would be neat to see on the cover of a book. Of course, I could have continued on and actually added some subject headings, and maybe I will at some point -- but this will do for now!

What do you think? Would you read this book if it looked like this?

Happy 100th, Barbara Pym!

Today is the centenary of Barbara Pym's birth, certainly a wonderful time to celebrate her literary legacy! I was fortunate enough to awaken this morning to a feature on Barbara Pym on the CBC's Sunday Edition, hosted by Bill Richardson (a former librarian and very amusing writer) which I hadn't known about beforehand. It didn't uncover anything new for the Pym fan, but was a wonderful appreciation of her work and her life.

And then I lazed about with my morning tea, finishing off A Few Green Leaves, which I very much enjoyed. The more Pym I read, the more able I am to recognize recurring characters, a particular pleasure, I think.

But the highlight of the day had to be our tea to celebrate the centenary. I joined in on the Virtual Tea Party which heavenali was hosting on Facebook, and had a small at-home tea just for the two of us here. A great reason to get out the wedding china, and use the linen napkins that I picked up at a jumble sale at the nearby Anglican church a while ago -- appropriately Pymian, I believe.

The sandwiches and salads I made myself, but my lovely husband dashed out early this morning to pick up some fresh scones from our favourite local supplier, they are always so tasty and so substantial! Of course we finished off with tea and a biscuit, and the tea seems to taste so much nicer in these delicate cups. I keep telling myself I must use them more often.

The tea table awaiting our attention

Lunch is ready, with cucumber sandwiches, potato salad
and a citrusy lentil salad: scones and tea up next!

Our teatime conversation also reflected a few Pym preoccupations, as we are both librarians and second-hand book dealers as well, though no anthropologists or curates here. I was able to share some of the library humour in An Unsuitable Attachment, which I am finding very amusing indeed. Perhaps the humour in this particular book will be most amusing to librarians, as it is so spot on -- but I would be glad to hear from any non-librarians who have an opinion on this book ;)

Thanks again to all the hosts of Pym Reading Week for the inspiration to celebrate Pym this week!

Miss Pym and I

For the first day of Barbara Pym reading week, hosts Thomas and Amanda have shared how they met Barbara Pym. Which made me think about how and when it was that I first read Pym.

As far as I remember, I'd been aware of Barbara Pym as a name. But I was under the impression she was a mid-century British writer, probably of little interest to me -- why I made this assumption, I am not quite certain, as I do read quite a bit of both mid-century and British women's novels.

In any case, there were two elements that made me decide to read my first Barbara Pym, a few years ago now. First was the general influence of so many bookish blogging friends mentioning her novels, continuously, in an offhand manner that suggested that of course one must also be a fan. More specifically, the influence of Kerry at Pickle Me This, a member of the Barbara Pym Society! If so many people who I loved to read and take advice from agreed, then it must be time to pick up a novel. I had No Fond Return of Love in the house so I started with that one. And quickly realized that this was a wonderful author who was going to become a favourite, which she has.

A secondary impulse toward reading Pym came from a stranger direction. I am, despite his enormous popularity, a fan of Alexander McCall Smith, having read every single book in his multitudinous output. I can't recall where I read that he is a Pym fan, and that he's read all of her work and recommends it, too. But, wondering about it, I went into my first Pym read with that in mind. It was fairly easy to see her influence on him, actually: in some of the phrasing, in some of the focus on domestic detail, certainly in the observation of people and their personal oddities. My discovery of Pym has added extra depth and a resonance to my McCall Smith reading.

So, I am at that lovely stage in which I have read just about half of her work, and have nearly half left unread.  I've managed to collect up all of her novels excepting three titles, which I'm still on the hunt for. And I'm on the hunt for Some Tame Gazelle which is somewhere in my house, I swear, though I was unable to rustle it up for this photo:

Scheduled Reading for this Week:

An Unsuitable Attachment

A Few Green Leaves

A Very Private Eye

Barbara Pym Reading Week!

I'm thrilled that Thomas of My Porch and Amanda at Fig & Thistle are co-hosting Barbara Pym Reading Week, coming this Saturday! Check out their blogs for more info... basically a great opportunity to gorge yourself on Pym novels and share thoughts. Always a good thing.

It's Barbara Pym's centenary on Sunday, thus the timing. But it also works out perfectly because early June is simply perfect for having tea outdoors, and of course, reading! And also on Sunday, heavenali is celebrating with a Virtual Tea Party in Pym's honour. Join in wherever you are, it will be lovely. I'll be trying some of these teatime treats.

I've reviewed a few of Pym's novels (favourite thus far is Crampton Hodnet) and read some that I haven't yet shared my thoughts on. During Pym Week I have An Unsuitable Attachment and A Few Green Leaves awaiting my attention. I'm also hoping to post a couple of outstanding reviews of her work, but we'll see... If you are also a Pym fan, join in, and if you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Barbara Pym yet, well, this is the perfect time to make her acquaintance.

Poetry Month returns...

So it's April again, and already, and I didn't get any poetry month celebrations planned out! But fortunately for me, there are other bloggers more organized, and I can leap in and participate with their well planned events :)

I'm thinking mainly of Serena at Savvy Verse & Wit, who is a champion of poetry all year round, but in April she goes all out, and hosts a spectacular month of poetry-focused blogging by a variety of poetry reading bloggers. I'm going to be chiming in on the 28th, but until then, check out her blog, and the schedule for all the poetic musings happening as part of her National Poetry Month Blog Tour Event:

April 1:  Savvy Verse & Wit Kick-Off

April 2: Things Mean a Lot

April 3:  MaggieMaeIJustSayThis

April 4:  Necromancy Never Pays

April 5:  Regular Rumination

April 6:  Booking Mama

April 7: Rhapsody in Books

April 8:  Maximum Exposure

April 9:  The Picky Girl

April 10: Tabatha Yeatts

April 11:  Book Snob

April 12:  Peeking Between the Pages

April 13:

April 14:  Rhapsody in Books

April 15: My Juicy Little Universe and Life’s A Stage

April 16:  Lost In Books

April 17:  Diary of an Eccentric

April 18:  Still Unfinished

April 19:  Wordy Evidence of the Fact

April 20:  Bermudaonion Weblog

April 21:  Insatiable Booksluts

April 22: Ad Astra (To the Stars)

April 23:  So Many Books

April 24:  Lit and Life

April 25:  A Bookish Way of Life

April 26: Life’s a Stage

April 27:  Insatiable Booksluts

April 28:  The Indextrious Reader

April 29:  Pen Paper Pad

April 30:  Worducopia

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A few other fun poetry month goings-on: over at Brick Books (where it is also all poetry, all the time) they've created a Poetry Map. They note that it includes "recordings of Brick Books poets reading from their works; behind-the-scenes diaries of the writing process; excerpts and more." Check it out, it is great fun to explore -- and while you're there, take a listen to some of their extensive collection of podcasts!

Plus, the Literary Press Group has an amazing 30-Day Coast-to-Coast Poetry Project, with a lineup of 35 poets taking readers across Canada from one end to the other. They post a poem and then a Q&A with the poet, and, there's also a twitter/FB contest so definitely explore their blog!

And, of course, there is the ongoing #todayspoem hashtag on twitter, if you haven't yet participated, take a look. Post a link to a fave poem, a beautiful line, or simply explore all the poems that have been shared so far. There is also a #todayspoem Pinterest board if you prefer that method of exploration.

So just a few ways to celebrate poetry a little more loudly this month ~ hope you plan on enjoying it too!

Sir Charles Grandison: first thoughts

I've started reading Sir Charles Grandison as part of my Postal Reading Challenge this year. I've had it on my shelf for many years and needed some incentive to finally pick it up...as it is over 1500 pages long! Because of this, I don't want to wait until I've finished it (some months hence) to share my thoughts on it. Instead, I thought I'd share some of the gems I've found so far. 

It's written in epistolary format and has a fabulous heroine, Harriet Byron. She is funny and clever, and apparently all that is beautiful and good as well, with men proposing to her left and right. She's headed off to London with her cousins, Mr. and Mrs. Reeves, and will be experiencing the whirl of a season, with lots to write home about.

Thus far (about 30 letters in) she has written nearly all the letters, and nearly all addressed to her cousin Lucy. Something I was surprised by was the nonchalant statement by Harriet that the Reeves' would be reading all her letters, essentially vetting them, before she sent them. And that Lucy would, of course, be reading them aloud to her family -- Harriet is always throwing in asides to "my Uncle" to be kind to her female judgments. Letters were indeed a kind of public discourse at this time.

So far Harriet has met a handful of new people, and has already been proposed to twice, upon the strength of one or two meetings. She has refused, even in the face of £8000 a year and two estates. I'm finding her quite modern in her insistence that she will not wed where she can't love and respect a spouse's character and intelligence.

She is forced to reveal her wit at one small house party when one of the men in attendance is rather pompously showing off his scholarly bent, and they get into a discussion about whether or not Latin and Greek are absolutely necessary to be a true scholar. Harriet argues that surely the pagans in pre-Greek and Roman times were able to communicate and live and create and learn without the wisdom of the ancients. Mr. Walden gets so infuriated that Harriet relates:

I could almost wish, said he (and but almost, as you are a lady) that you knew the work of the great antients in their original languages.

Upon which Harriet's friend replies:

Something, said Miss Clements, should be left for men to excel in.



Another thing that has struck me is that this book was published 260 years ago -- and yet there is so much that is still current in human nature, good and bad. Sir Hargrave Pollexfen, upon being rejected by Harriet, demands to know who she has given her affections to. She states "to no-one". He can not understand how, not already being the property of another man, she can possibly not become his. He angrily concludes:

For I will not cease pursuing you till you are mine, or till you are the wife of some other man.

It reminds me of those awful men who hit on you and won't leave you alone until you bring the existence of a boyfriend or husband (imaginary or not) into the mix. As if anyone who isn't already claimed as male property is fair game no matter what opinion they may be expressing! This infuriates me, and this scene was so evocative of modern life that I was rather discouraged by this idea's persistence.

Anyhow, I am finding this a ripping good read and can't wait to find out what Harriet is going to do now that she's found out that her two (unwelcome) country swains are coming up to London to see what is happening... and I still have 1400 pages to go ;)

Best of the Year, 2012

Unlike many media outlets, I prefer to wait until the very last second to decide what my favourite reads of the year were! Who knows, I might always find something fabulous under the tree that will jump to the top of the list -- so I like to hold off to the last possible day to discuss this topic!

And, I also enjoy creating a statistical summary of my year's reading. I always find it interesting to see what I've ended up reading, and whether there are any patterns to what I pick up throughout the year. There didn't seem to be any patterns this year ~ really quite random!


Total Reading: 125

Authors

Female: 83
Male: 42

Genre etc.

Fiction: 82
Non Fiction: 38
Poetry: 5

In translation: 

French (Quebecois): 2
Dutch: 1
Portuguese: 1
Finnish: 1
Spanish: 1
Swedish: 1

My Own Books: 68
Library Books: 57

Review Copies: 28 
(I count these are part of  "my own" books, but I'm feeling that this is too many as I feel obliged to read all of the books I ask for ... will have to reduce the numbers next year)

Rereads: 7
E-reads: 17

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And now for the Best of the Year 2012!

I found for some reason this year that I wasn't engaging with my reading in the same way...perhaps too busy? Perhaps preoccupied with other things?  I did find some great books but not in the same abundance as usual. 

Nonetheless, here are the top ten reads that I discovered in 2012, the criteria being solely my personal taste. These books either amused me, delighted me with their great writing, were full of fascinating facts, or had some unique element to them that I found appealing. 

1. Quiet: the power of Introverts in a world that can't stop talking / Susan Cain

One of the most powerful nonfiction reads of the year, I've been recommending this to everyone ever since. Great book about an important topic, written well and very shareable. 

2. Walking a Literary Labyrinth / Nancy Malone

This was a book I stumbled across, and seeing it was about labyrinths and reading, two of my own preoccupations, I immediately read it. It was gentle, wise and a lovely read. 

3. Little Comrades / Laurie Lewis

This was a fascinating memoir that incorporates Canadian history, women's lives and a narrator with a bookish bent. Can't wait to read part 2 in 2013!

4. Fooling Houdini / Alex Stone
This was a very entertaining read about magic, math and mental trickery ~ lots to learn, while having fun reading.

5. Dance, Gladys, Dance / Cassie Stocks

Hilarious fun, with a diverse cast of characters in Winnipeg (including one ghost) trying to make a go of things. Art, craft, love, and a soupçon of sadness. And the author wrote a simply gorgeous guest post about everyday creativity, as well. 

6. Blood & Salt / Barbara Sapergia

A tale of Ukrainian Canadian history, told in straightforward language. This illuminates an ignored part of our history, the internment of Ukrainian Canadians during World War I. 

7. Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore / Robin Sloan

Quirky tale of a group of young people melding technology with the love of books as they try to crack the mystery of a secret society based on Aldus Manutius' teachings... the perfect blend, in my opinion. Compulsive reading.

8. Wonders of the Invisible World / Patricia McKillip

What a gorgeous collection of short stories by the master fantasy writer herself. Beautiful, dreamy, inspiring.

9. How It All Began / Penelope Lively

I make no secret of my love for Penelope Lively. I am endlessly interested in the themes of her novels, and this latest one was no exception. I really enjoyed it. 

10. Wildlives / Monique Proulx

This was an unexpectedly wonderful book, set in the summer months at a lake in the Laurentians. The writing was great, the setting was amazing, the story was complex and deep. This book by a Quebec writer is definitely one of the best of the year. 

Hope you all had a wonderful reading year as well, and here's to marvellous new bookish discoveries in the New Year. Happy, and lucky, 2013 to all!