The Midnight Train

Finished July 25

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig.

This book came out of the responses from his previous book The Midnight Library, compelling him to explore these ideas about life in another way. Since I loved that book, I decided to try this one as well. 

The central character is Wilbur. First we see a vignette from his life, when he is on his honeymoon in Venice. Then we see him in the present, as he is nearing the end of his life, in his 80s, with regrets over his choices. He had a successful life, founding a bookstore chain and making lots of money, but he has sacrificed people and personal life over those choices. Unexpected contact with someone from his past gets him thinking and he finds himself in death, which is nothing like what he expected.

He is by train tracks, waiting for a train, greeted by someone from his past who will guide him on his journey, explaining the rules of travel and helping him understand what is happening. He is a version of himself where he was most himself, on that trip to Venice. The train will take him through time, over the course of his life. It will stop and key moments where he must get off and observe them, feeling the joy or pain or other emotions again and perhaps noticing things he hadn't noticed in the moment. The purpose of the journey is to help him better understand his life. When he hears the train, he must reboard and travel forward in time again. The train is a larger version of a toy train he had as a child.

As Wilbur witnesses his life, seeing things he hadn't noted, feeling the feelings again, he wants himself to have noticed, to choose differently, but that isn't how this journey works. But he can't help wondering whether it is possible to influence his younger self and make different decisions.

This is a fascinating read, that had me as a reader considering my choices, and what I might have done differently. What moments would my train stop for? This is a book that will stay with me.

Life: A Love Story

Finished November 6

Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg

I love Elizabeth Berg, so when I was given the opportunity to read her upcoming book a little early, I was very excited. It did not disappoint. This story is narrated by Florence 'Flo' Greene, a ninety-two-year-old widow who is nearing the end of her life. She and her late husband didn't have children of their own, but they were very close to a child who lived next door, Ruthie, and Ruthie spent a lot of time at their house growing up. Flo plans to leave the house and its contents to Ruthie and decides to write her a letter explaining some of the contents of the house that are special to her and why. She also worries that Ruthie, who she senses has been going through a difficult time in her marriage, might give up too easily, and so she shares some of the marital issues that she's dealt with and how working through them was part of the normal work involved in a marriage, and would bring the two partners closer. 

The story is told partly through the long letter that Flo writes, over the course of weeks, and partly through Flo's life now as it is happening. 

Flo enjoys visits from her neighbour's aging dog, having loved him since he was a puppy. She sees the people on her street going off to school and work, and greets them from her front porch and on her walks. She notices a woman across the street and begins an ongoing conversation with her that leads to friendship, reminding us again that we can be friends with people of all ages. She goes to the library, and she becomes closer to a woman of her own generation that she always admired.

Flo has loved her home, her garden, her neighbourhood, and believes in kindness and community. She has a secret or two of her own that she feels moved to share with the right person or people when it seems like the right time. 

Flo is a voice that reminds us that we are not alone in this world, that love comes in many forms, and that noticing the people around us and what they would appreciate is one of the most important and kind things that we can do.

Highly recommended.

The Life Impossible

Finished October 31

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

This is a story of life, of loss, of connection. It is about appreciating the world, and how everyone has their own story. 

The story is structured around emails by a man to his former teacher, and her response. Her response is the major portion of the novel and tells of her life, particularly when she received an inheritance from a former fellow teacher of a house in Ibiza, Spain. 

The narrator, Grace Winters is a retired math teacher. She tells of the brief friendship she had with Christina, an art teacher, particularly one Christmas that they spent together. Christina left for Spain soon after, and Grace went on to marry, have a child, and experience loss. Mathematics is both a comfort and a coping mechanism. Whenever she feels overwhelmed, she does math in her head. 

When she decides to go to Spain to see this house, she doesn't know what to expect, but it certainly isn't this ugly little house in the middle of nowhere. She finds she has also been left a car, and a list of recommended things to do. There is also a plan that she isn't aware that involves one of Christina's friends. The experience she undergoes changes her life forever. It takes her grief and loss, and her depression and takes her out of them, to see the world around her, in all its beauty and pain. Grace finds that she has been given a task, but also an opportunity, and she must open herself up to this experience as she faces her past and her pain and recognizes that others have their own stories that also resonate with her.

There is an amorphous being that is part of this story, a life presence from another place, that has power that Grace learns to draw from. This is a tale that feels both fantastical and relatable. A very interesting book that is hard to define. 

Tapestries of Life

Finished August 20

Tapestries of Life: Uncovering the Lifesaving Secrets of the Natural World by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, translated by Lucy Moffat

This book, one I received as part of a book subscription from Mr. B's, is a fascinating look at all nature offers. I learned so many interesting things in the natural world, as well as how humans have taken from it. The author is a Norwegian conservation biologist who knows her subject very well. 

The book is organized with an introduction, ten chapters, and an afterword, and begins with a very personal preface that talks about her life and how she came to this work. She says "Curiosity and a capacity for wonderment are important to me as a scientist." Her aim for the book is to get people to appreciate the natural world enough to work to take care of it. 

In the introduction she talks about her encounter in a museum with a stuffed rhinoceros whose horns had been removed to avoid theft. This led her to think about the numerous smaller creatures that are disappearing. She also talks about the idea of nature as an ecosystem service that offers many benefits. Her third idea here is of the thin layer of earth where life exists, a mere 20 kilometres from the bottom of the Mariana Trench to the top of Mount Everest and the reality that we are only one species among ten million that exist. 

The chapters each discuss one area of 'service' that nature provides, giving examples and making connections to these ideas by relating them to different aspects of human use. 

The first is Water of Life, where she talks about the necessity of water, how much of the earth's water is freshwater and available for use, and species that clean the water such as moss and mussels. 

The second is Grocery Store, which refers to what we take from the earth for food. She talks about microbes and insects, how we use arable land, the role of megafauna in the environment, and the health of the oceans. She also introduces the idea of shifting baseline syndrome, a kind of collective amnesia where we don't see the changes that have happened over time. 

The third chapter is Biggest Buzz, where she begins with coffee, connecting that to pollination, and the interdependence of species in growth, survival of species, and renewal.

The fourth chapter iss Pharmacy, where she looks at the many plants that have been used in healthcare, from traditional medicine to synthetic versions of naturally existing remedies. She talks about the importance of safeguarding traditional knowledge, the long history of medicinal use of natural plants and fungi, and what we are still learning from other creatures and plants. 

The fifth is Fibre Factory, nature that provides us with cloth, building materials, and books. She also includes a discussion of energy from fires to biofuel here. The idea of cold light is one intriguing example. 

The sixth is Caretaking, how plants help to retain water and soil, prevent erosion, provide buffers against flooding, regulate temperature, and clean the air. Her description of the 'flying river' over the Amazon, bringing moisture back inland was one I hadn't known of before. She touches on the importance of old growth forests and how they are different from more managed forest area. One especially intriguing study to me was the reindeer on the Hardanger Plateau, where 323 reindeer died from a strike of lightning and scientist as studying what is happening to them as they decompose. 

Chapter seven is the Warp in the Tapestry of Life, which takes us deep into the world of micro organisms, as well as showing how creatures like whales transport nutrients and minerals, including carbon, from the surface to the ocean depths, and keep life going down there. She discusses the almost doubling change in CO² concentrations from the pre-Industrial world to today. This chapter also includes referent to the increased proximity of wild creatures to both us and domesticated animals as a key input to the rise of infectious diseases we are seeing move into humans, giving several examples. 

Chapter eight is Nature's Archives, a record over time of what has happened. She gives examples such as the samples that have been taken from Greenland in ice cores, comparing tree rings in standing dead trees and timber in old structures, and pollen levels in bogs. One study was able to use guano buildup in a disused chimney to see how the bird species' diet changed over time. 

The ninth chapter is An Ideas Bank for Every Occasion, which looks at how nature has given us inspiration for technological solutions to problems, She gives several fascinating examples here, showing us the inspirations for self-cleaning windows, bullet train design, colour in banknotes, and nanostructure films. She also talks about natures algorithms in efficiency, given movement of slime mould as an example. 

Chapter ten gives us Nature's Cathedral, a place where great thoughts take shape, and the feeling that we get when we spend time in nature, whether forest bathing or listening to birds in our own backyards. She shows research on the role of nature in mental health, robust immune systems, and the intrinsic value of nature itself. 

The afterword gives an element of hope to readers, and ideas of what we can do to keep what exists now from disappearing. 

A fantastic read. 

The Husbands

Finished June 6

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio

This book completely captivated me. 

Lauren returns to her flat one evening, after a hen's night for her best friend's upcoming wedding, and finds a strange man in her home. She lives alone, and doesn't have a boyfriend. The man claims to be her husband Michael, and when she looks more closely, she finds changes to he home: different paint on some walls, some different pictures, new furniture and other changes. When she looks at her phone, she finds him in her address book, and sees pictures showing that they've been together for years. She tries to figure out what has happened that she doesn't remember any of this, and when Michael goes to the attic to change a light bulb, a different man emerges, with her flat changed again in a different way. She soon finds that a trip to the attic brings a different man and as she examines her feelings and relationships, she gradually makes the connection with these changes as trying to find someone or something better instead of just living the life she has. 

It's a really interesting idea, and I liked where she went with it. Sometimes her job changed as well, and that created interesting situations. 

The husbands are a real mix, but she gradually realizes that they are all possible matches for her, each showing some aspect that she likes in a partner. It also illuminated how a woman can be drawn into a relationship for one of those aspects and find that another aspect makes the match unacceptable. A couple of the men that appear as husbands are downright scary in their own way, which makes this even more believable. 

I couldn't put this book down, reading it in a single day. Such a good, interesting, and thought-provoking novel. 

Gravity Is the Thing

Finished August 14 

Gravity Is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty

This book, set mostly in Australia, with a short section set in Montreal, is the story of thirty-six-year-old single mom Abigail Sorensen. The book opens just before her thirty-sixth birthday, where she is on a small island off Tasmania in response to an invitation she received for a big reveal. Starting twenty years ago, when she was sixteen, she began getting random chapters to something called The Guidebook in the mail. She has faithfully sent in address changes and responded most of the time to an annual reflection prompt and is interested to find out what is behind the mailings. However, another part of her associates these mailings with her missing brother, as that also happened when she turned sixteen, just after her first mailed chapter. Despite have a good police liaison and following up every lead, they still don't know what happened to her brother, so part of her hopes for that truth as well. 

She finds a group of people near her age, all of whom had kept getting the chapters from The Guidebook, just as she had. The getaway is run by a man named Wilbur, who is the son of the couple who sent out the chapters. After a couple days spent doing a variety of activities,  a select group of those attending are let in on the secret behind the chapters, and the reaction is underwhelming. Some are disappointed, some upset.

After she goes back home, Abigail is invited again to continue with follow-up sessions and something in the universe seems to be telling her to attend. 

There is a lot going on here. We gradually learn Abigail's story, about what happened when her brother Robert disappeared and how her family dealt with the situation. We know that her mom has a new partner Xuang, who Abigail likes, and we learn about her ex-husband Finnegan. Abigail's son Oscar, four years old as the book begins is a large presence in the book too. Abigail trained as a lawyer, but now she runs her own cafe, one called the Happiness Cafe, in north Sydney. 

We see a selection of the chapters that she received, and they are pretty off the wall, and quite short. As I said, they arrive in a completely random order, and she didn't read all of them, or follow all the instructions that they gave her, although she did some, and they did have an effect on her life as she thinks back. 

As we see her relate to the various people in her life: employees, friends, family, and the new people she meets at Wilbur's sessions, we begin to learn about Abigail. I liked her. I think she'd be fun to know. We see her worries and her daily life. We see some of her thoughts as she goes through her days. This is a book about a woman's life, as she considers it and makes the decisions that will determine where it goes next. I really enjoyed this book. It is hard to classify. There are elements of romance in it at times, but mostly not. There is the mystery of her brother's disappearance, which continues throughout, but is just one of the plot lines. It is really just about life.

The Midnight Library

Finished December 3
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

I received this book through a subscription service I joined recently otherwise I might not have got around to it for a while. I'm really glad I read it as I thoroughly enjoyed it.  It has so many themes that spoke to me: loneliness, depression, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, family divisions, and regrets. 

The main character here is Nora Seed a woman who has struggled with loss and guilt for a lot of her life. She was a very good swimmer and her father had high hopes for her to go on to the Olympics, but that isn't what she wanted. In high school, she tried different things, and got into music for a while, joining her brother's band as a singer and songwriter, but she got severe stage fright and had panic attacks and didn't want to fame that went along with such a public career. She got engaged, but never felt heard or appreciated in the relationship and decided not to go through with the marriage. Now, she's been living along with her cat in a small house in the town she grew up in and working in a music shop. When her cat dies, she feels that she has no one that would miss her. Estranged from her family, and unmoored, she decides to end her life.

When she awakens, she is in front of a building and she walks in to discover a library filled with books, and is met by her old high school librarian, a woman she liked a lot. Each of the infinite number of books on the shelf is a different version of her life, a possible world she could have lived in if she'd made a different choice at some point. It may have been a small thing, like letting her cat outside, or a large thing like travelling to Australia with her best friend, but every life would be different in some way. Nora has the opportunity to look at the regrets she has about her life, and decide to see what life she would have if she had chosen differently. 

I think this idea appeals to most of us in some way. What if we'd gone to a different school, majored in a different subject, dated a different person, traveled somewhere differently or at a different time. But is there really a perfect life? After all, none of us is perfect, so why should we expect our lives to be. 

This made me reflect on my own life and consider any regrets I might have, and think about how I feel about my life right now, right here. 

A fantastic read. 

My Summer of Magic Moments

Finished September 8
My Summer of Magic Moments by Caroline Roberts

This is a feel good romance novel. Claire Maxwell, a newspaper reporter and columnist, has recently finished her treatments for breast cancer and been given the all clear. Then her husband announced that he's found someone else. Now divorced and back to work, she's decided to take most of her annual vacation and go back to the seacoast she spent many a childhood vacation to spend some time alone and reflect. She still has to prepare her newspaper column for the week she returns and that is on her mind, as well as the upcoming sale of the marital home.
The cottage she rented is a bit more dilapidated than she expected and her journey to get there wasn't smooth, but the views are spectacular and she enjoys the sea and the challenge of the walk to the nearest small seaside town, where she can buy supplies. The magic moments idea in the book's title comes to her here, those small moments in life that can lift one's spirits, assuage the soul, and provide comfort through memory. She tries to gather these moments from those around her, and those she meets.
She makes a new friend in the small town as she begins a new hobby, baking bread, and starts to reengage with life through her mom and her sister and sister's family. She is also intrigued by the man who is staying at the cottage nearest hers, who she sees first at a distance, and then later when she needs some help with something that goes wrong at her cottage.
As she prepares to move house, and create a new home for herself, she is also looking forward to life again, realizing that life is precious and we don't know how long we have, so she is savouring it and taking hold of those moments as they arise, however unexpected.
A great read, especially for the times that we find ourselves in. The author reached out to the public for the magic moments in their lives as part of her writing of this novel, trying to include as many as she could within the confines of the story.

You Do You

Finished February 22
You Do You: How to Be Who You Are and Use What You've Got to Get What You Want by Sarah Knight

This is Knight's third book about taking control of you own life. I've read her first book, The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck. This book starts with an orientation exercise.
The first main section of the books talks about the Dos and Don'ts that society puts forward and Knight goes through them and shows how they aren't necessarily true. Covered here are "Don't Be Selfish", "Do Your Best", "Don't Be Difficult", "Do Be a Team Player", and "Don't Quit Your Day Job". The next section does the same with Wills and Won'ts: "You Will Change Your Mind", "You Won't Get Anywhere with that Attitude", "You Will Regret That", "You Won't Get a Good Job if You Don't Go to College", and "You Will Never Live That Down".
The third section deals with Shoulds and Shouldn'ts: "You Should Always Put Family First", "You Shouldn't Act So Crazy", "You Should Smile More", "You Shouldn't Eat That", and "You Should Check Your Ego at the Door."
Throughout the book, Knight talks about how to interact with those that declaim these statements to you in expectation that you will conform. She talks about how to look inward and check your own motivations and plans and make decisions that make sense for you. Some of them may fit into others' expectations, but they may not. Either is okay. The main thing is that you should think about how your decisions affect others, and that you should do what's right for you as long as you aren't causing harm to others. You will be judged by others, and perhaps even by yourselves, but that is not harm.
Her advice is good. Look at things realistically, but not with society as the judge. If someone is telling you that some decision is wrong for you, think about what led you to that decision and about how no one knows what is right for you better than you do.
This is a book to read slowly and refer back to when you need to.

The Whole Town's Talking

Finished July 10
The Whole Town's Talking by Fannie Flagg

This novel takes place in Elwood Springs, Missouri as many of her novels do, but this one covers more time and takes a different view.
The book starts in 1889 with Lordor Nordstrom, the found of Elwood Springs as he settles in the United States, and starts a community that includes many other Swedes, but also those immigrants from other backgrounds. It tells of his search for a wife, one that has the support and assistance of the other men and women of the small community. As Lordor looks at the community, he picks a place on a hill in town with a pleasant view in all directions, and donates it for a cemetery, calling it Still Meadows. It introduces us to his friends and neighbours: Birdie and Lars Swenson, Henry and Nancy Knott, Old Man Henderson, and many others.
The story takes us through the years, with each new generation moving in, and learning about them, but until 1911 when the first town person was interred in the cemetery this is just background. Because something special happens to those buried here, and the reader will enjoy the premise of this story as it takes us up to 2021.
This is a story about community, about what life is really about, and about lasting love. I really enjoyed it, especially the little twist at the end.

Cake or Death

Finished February 23
Cake or Death: The Excruciating Choices of Everyday Life by Heather Mallick

I usually enjoy and agree with Mallick's column's in the Toronto Star, so I picked this book of essays up as a treat. Even though it was published ten years ago, it still relates to the world we live in today. From the sad state of American politics (which has only gotten sadder), to housekeeping as a means to managing depression; from a look at memoir trends to the wonderfulness of hotels, Mallick unveils truths about life even as she has us laughing.
Other topics covered her are: an average day's events; luxury catalogs; men blaming women; Britain's decline; France's elegance; fear and its purposes; people she hates; Doris Lessing; memory; how to ignore the unpleasant; urban versus rural; women's looks; things that don't work out; writer's block; what she hates and loves about America; and yes, a recipe for cake.
I love books of essays and this one did not disappoint.

One True Loves

Finished January 21
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The novel opens with an introduction to 31-year-old Emma Blair by herself. Emma is a woman comfortable in her own skin and satisfied with her life. She is engaged to be married to a man she loves, Sam, and happy running a bookstore in her hometown of Acton, Massachusetts. But her world is thrown into a spin when her phone rings and a voice on the other end that she immediately recognizes tells her he is alive. It is her husband Jesse, a man thought to be dead years ago. Now what?
The novel then jumps back to Emma in high school. She is a young woman raised by loving parents in Massachusetts. Her parent's run a bookstore in Acton, and fully expect her and her older sister Marie to take it over one day. Marie is popular, pretty, and smart and intends to be a writer someday. Emma has no interest in the bookstore or reading the books her parents push on her, despite working their after school and on weekends, and her only real aim is to get away. Emma feels that she can never measure up to Marie and that Marie resents her. But when the boy she admires takes a sudden interest in her, she gains the confidence to move forward and make her life what she wants it to be.
We see her life develop into a rich and busy one until the tragedy of Jesse's disappearance and assumed death devastates her entirely.
Then we watch her rebuild her life into one that suits her now, until the sudden reappearance of Jesse makes her question everything once more.
This is a story of love, of the changes that life puts us through, and of the choices we all make along the way.

The Life-Changing Magic of Not giving a F*ck

Finished November 13
The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck: How to Stop Spending Time You Don't Have with People You Don't Like Doing Things You Don't Want to Do by Sarah Knight

This is a book for all of us who feel overwhelmed by life and its demands on us, or as the author says "all of us who work too much, play too little, and never have enough time to devote to the people and things that truly make us happy." A parody of the decluttering book by Marie Kondo, this book deals with mental decluttering and the tidying up of our fuck drawers. The author explains her ah-ha moment in the introduction, and how she went about gradually focusing her time, energy, and money on the things she really cared about and that made her happy. The rest of the book is split into four sections. Each one has tasks or exercises to assist with your changes.
Section 1 deals with the theory, the whys, and defines what the book's aim is. Not Giving a Fuck means taking care of yourself first; allowing yourself to say no; releasing yourself from the worry, anxiety, fear, and guilt associated with saying no; and reducing mental clutter. One of the essentials associated with this is making the change to only give the fucks you really want to give is to do it in such a way that you don't turn into an asshole. One of the biggest hurdles to overcome is to stop giving a fuck about what other people think, and she gives some tips for dealing with that. She explains the method at the heart of the change, which she calls NotSorry. NotSorry combines honesty with politeness to avoid being an asshole. and she advocates the use of a chart to assist with this. She also discusses feelings and opinions and the differentiation. We don't necessarily care about someone's opinions (especially their opinions about us), but we do care (usually) about their feelings and don't want to hurt those. She does talk about those people who won't like this change. She has a nice flow chart to help with deciding on whether to give a fuck or not.

This section ends with a visualization exercise.

Section 2 helps you to decide what to stop giving a fuck about. The first category is the easiest: things. They are easiest because they don't involve other people. They may be inanimate objects or concepts. Some may be things you have no control over (perfect for this list). Ask yourself, does it bring joy or does it annoy. She gives a lot of examples to get you started. The second category is work, and here it is important to remember to not give a fuck about the things you can't control. That should eliminate quite a bit. She has special sections dealing with meetings, conference calls, dress codes, and useless paperwork. She also deals with those calls from co-workers to support their outside interests. The third category is friends, acquaintances, and strangers. This category is all about setting boundaries. She has a section specifically dealing with donations, solicitations and loans. She talks about the usefulness of personal policies in helping to set boundaries. She also includes a section around children and parents. Because this category involves people, she also talks about when it is okay to hurt someone's feelings, which is not often, and most of those involve strangers. The fourth, and most difficult category is family. She discusses the dangers of guilt and outlines the understanding of choice over obligation. In her research, she asked a lot of people and outlines here the six most mentioned things that people don't give a fuck about in terms of families. She discusses shame, holidays, and in-laws. At this point, you consolidate your lists from the 3 categories and physically cross off all those things you will no longer give a fuck about. She warns against some of the dangerous thinking that will still arise.
Section 3 is all about putting the change into action. You've got your list, but now you actually have to change your behaviour. This is when focusing on the time, energy, and money you are gaining for the things you actually care about comes in. She recommends you start with the easy ones and organizes them into levels from easy (yellow) to hardest (red). She talks about honesty and politeness and deals with each category in turn, with a special section around weddings. Here, with the use of charts for honesty and politeness, she shows how to choose the response that meets your need. She also talks about rewarding yourself for making changes. She has a section near the end for frequently asked questions.
The last section talks about how making these changes transforms your life, giving you back time, energy, and money for the things you actually give a fuck about. She shows how making lists showing these gains is helpful for motivation.  She talks about the effect on your body, your mind, and even your soul. She also talks about some things you might actually want to give a fuck about.
I really enjoyed this book, and it has me thinking about some of the things I do in a new light.

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

Finished March 6
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce

This novel is a follow-up of a sort to the earlier book The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. In that novel, Harold undertook a journey to Queenie. This book reveals Queenie's story, her feelings for Harold, her relationship with him and how it developed over time. It also reveals her interactions with David, Harold's son, and her underlying feelings of guilt for hiding this relationship from Harold and how she felt she failed David.
Queenie is living in a hospice, dying from cancer, and we learn her story gradually, how she first came to Kingsbridge and worked at the brewery and met Harold, how she left there and where she went, how she came to live by the sea, and how she came to where she is now.
We meet the other patients at the hospice, Mr. Henderson, Barbara, The Pearly King, and Finty are particularly memorable. We meet the staff, mostly nuns who look after the patients there, seeing to their needs and making their final days more comfortable and helping them find small joys.
It is one of these nuns that Queenie meets and that spends time with her, urging her to tell her story in a letter to Harold. Queenie can't speak properly due to her cancer, and struggles to write with a pencil her story. Sister Mary Inconnue then transcribes it with her typewriter. She also seems to connect with Queenie more intimately than the other nuns, understanding her needs and helping her find the joy and comfort in her surroundings, taking notice of people and objects beyond her to ease her own pain, sadness, and discomfort.
This is a book reflecting on life, love, the connections between us all, and beauty in the world around us. The love song of Queenie isn't only for Harold, it is for herself, and for the world she experienced and imagined.

Guardians of Being

Finished August 12
Guardians of Being, words by Eckhart Tolle, art by Patrick McDonnell

I picked this one up because I'm a huge Mutts fan. It is a short, thoughtful book that encourages you to be in the moment, showing how our animals can help us remember to no think, but to be. McDonnell's art is wonderful, of course, and some of it is from previous work in his Mutts series, as our the characters used. A reminder of what is important in life, and how to take the time to enjoy life for what it is. Just like his comic art predecessor Charles Schultz, McDonnell reminds us with the help of Tolle's words that happiness is indeed a warm puppy (or in my case a purring cat).
A nice little book.

Canada

Finished July 4
Canada by Richard Ford

This novel is told by Dell Parsons, a man looking back at a few months fifty years earlier, where two actions changed his life. The opening lines tell us "First, I'll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the murders, which happened later. The robbery is the more important part, since it served to set my and my sister's lives on the courses they eventually followed. Nothing would make complete sense without that being told first."
So the first section of the book deals with the robbery, the situation his family was in at the time, his parents' personalities, his twin sister, Berner's personality, his own immaturity, and longing for a normal life. We seem them, outsiders in the two, partly due to his father's recent, lifelong army career, partly due to his mother's ethnicity and attitude, partly due to the small town culture of Great Falls, Montana at the time. Dell is small for his age, bookish, interested in chess and beekeeping, longing to begin high school in the fall. We see that Dell is a person things happen to for the most part, not a boy who takes action. The robbery uproots his whole world, and he begins again.
The next section of the book deals with the next few months of his life, in rural Saskatchewan. He lives at first in a mostly abandoned prairie town, in a shack with no running water. Later, when things turn colder and his shack is needed for other purposes, he lives in a small room in a hotel owned by the man who has provided for him. He works, tries to figure out his new life, and lets things happen to him again. It is during this time that he learns some life skills, and gains some maturity. He is in an odd situation, casually looked after by others who have no real interest in him. At the end of this, he moves on again, to a more normal life, one we don't get the details of.
The last, short section is in the present, looking back, telling us where he ended up and how, and what he makes of those earlier experiences.
This is the story of a life and shows that how one reacts to events is so important. As we see Dell's life, and the life of his sister Berner, we see how different reactions produced different outcomes. We see how Dell's acceptance of life and what it brings has brought him some measure of happiness in the end despite those earlier experiences.
A great book club book.

The Time of My Life

Finished May 13
The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern, read by Amy Creighton

This novel has a storyline that startled me and then captured me. Lucy Silchester lives in a studio apartment with her cat, goes to work translating instructions for appliances, and avoids questions about her life. But she's been receiving invitations that she finds she can't keep ignoring. The invitations invite her to book a meeting, a meeting with her life. Not only has she been avoiding other people's questions about her life, she's been avoiding dealing with her life herself.
Lucy split with her live-in boyfriend nearly three years ago, and still hasn't completely dealt with it. She is operating in automatic, making no plans for the future, just going to work and coming home and hiding from her life. But her life won't let her hide anymore. When she meets with her life, she finds it unsatisfying and tries to avoid facing up to the truth, but her life won't let her.
She finds herself spending a great deal of time with her life, facing up to the truths that she has been avoiding and a few that spin her life into new directions, and getting to know herself again.
This is a book that will have you looking at your own life, and asking yourself what you've been avoiding. It doesn't package everything up with happy endings, but it does offer hope and that dealing with reality is a lot better than not dealing with it, because your life is still there, even if you're ignoring it.

Poetry for the Real World

Finished July 26

Ballistics by Billy Collins

I have been reading this book of poetry slowly, savouring each poem. Billy Collins takes ordinary moments in life and captures them eloquently in his poems.
Each one is a gem.
It is hard to find words to describe the experience I had with this book, other than to say, READ IT, YOU'LL LOVE IT.

Collection

Finished January 8
Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog: the amazing adventures of an ordinary woman by Lisa Scottoline
This is a collection inspired by Scottoline's column Chick Wit from the Philadelphia Inquirer, and kept me laughing throughout. She has a knack for taking an ordinary situation and pointing out the ridiculous in it. In a few selections we hear from her daughter Francesca, and we see a lot of both her mother Mary, and her brother.
We also hear occasionally about her two ex-husbands, referred to as Thing One and Thing Two. And of course her pets (both dogs and cats) play a large role in her experiences.
For a humourous look at life, in small doses, this is a great selection.

Odd Little Book

Finished July 1
Indexed by Jessica Hagy
This book came from Hagy's blog. She uses Venn diagrams to show relationships between ideas, situations, truths and impressions and has a great sense of how things are.
Her diagrams show things more simply than we often see them, and highlight the truth in even complex ideas.
I loved it.