Finished January 7
Two Billion Trees and Counting: the legacy of Edmund Zavitz by John Bacher
I learned a lot from this book about the state of trees, forests, and the environment in Ontario. I had no idea of the wastelands in the province at the beginning of the 20th century and the fight to convince those in power (government and corporations) that it benefited everyone in the long run to have well-managed forests. So many of the arguments made by Zavitz and his fellow forestry advocates echo those around global warming and other environmental concerns (tar sands anyone?) today.
I guess there will allow be those who see the short term profit and not the long term sustainability which leads to greater profits in the end, not to mention better living conditions for all.
A book every politician and voter should read to avoid making the mistakes of the past over again.
This book follows the life and career for Edmund Zavitz (1875-1968) and his influence on the environment, specifically reforestation, in Ontario. We see the progress and mistakes, the political manoeuvrings and the passion, the shortsightedness of some and the long term effects. This is an important book for Canadian environmental history.
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Saturday, 7 January 2012
The Broken Shore
Finished January 6
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
A little history of my copy of this novel: I picked up this book in a bookstore along the Great Ocean Road when I was in Australia in 2006. On my flight home, my luggage was delayed and soaked, and the book I bought was damaged. I got the airline to reimburse me for the replacement, which I ordered from Dymocks in Australia (along with another book not available in Canada at the time), but then never read it until now, nearly six years later.
Joe Cashin has had bad experiences in his Melbourne police career recently and come close to death. Subsequently he has been posted to the quiet coastal community he grew up in. When a prominent local is killed, three local aboriginal boys are fingered for the crime, but Cashin doesn't believe it is that straightforward. It would be easy for him to go along with this story, but even as the deaths pile up, he moves forward in a different direction, searching for the truth.
Cashin is a man who has lived a difficult life, whose father died when he was young, who cares about people, and has a strong moral centre. This makes for a very interesting character.
We see him develop and the characters around him are also interesting. The plot is complex, yet never hard to accept. A great and gripping mystery with many facets.
The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
A little history of my copy of this novel: I picked up this book in a bookstore along the Great Ocean Road when I was in Australia in 2006. On my flight home, my luggage was delayed and soaked, and the book I bought was damaged. I got the airline to reimburse me for the replacement, which I ordered from Dymocks in Australia (along with another book not available in Canada at the time), but then never read it until now, nearly six years later.
Joe Cashin has had bad experiences in his Melbourne police career recently and come close to death. Subsequently he has been posted to the quiet coastal community he grew up in. When a prominent local is killed, three local aboriginal boys are fingered for the crime, but Cashin doesn't believe it is that straightforward. It would be easy for him to go along with this story, but even as the deaths pile up, he moves forward in a different direction, searching for the truth.
Cashin is a man who has lived a difficult life, whose father died when he was young, who cares about people, and has a strong moral centre. This makes for a very interesting character.
We see him develop and the characters around him are also interesting. The plot is complex, yet never hard to accept. A great and gripping mystery with many facets.
A Dublin Student Doctor
Finished January 6
A Dublin Student Doctor by Patrick Taylor, read by John Keating
This is the third novel I've listened to in the Irish Country series. The others are An Irish Country Girl, an An Irish Country Doctor. There are others in the series I haven't read yet.
Patrick Taylor was born and grew up in Ireland and became a doctor there. He now lives in B.C.
This novel features Doctor Fingal O'Reilly. Dr. O'Reilly is driving home from the races in 1965 when he comes across an accident. One of his patients has crashed his motorcycle.
Dr. O'Reilly accompanies him in the ambulance to the hospital, and falls into reminiscences of his medical student days in Dublin. The novel becomes a tales of those days in the mid 1930s.
Dr. O'Reilly overcame his father's objections and other hardships to become a doctor. He studied at Trinity College and Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital. During those student days he made lifelong friends with 3 other medical students and romanced a nursing student, Kitty O'Hallorhan. The novel shows the extent of medical education at the time, the social situation in Dublin, and gives insight into the character of O'Reilly, who has been featured in the other novels in this series.
This novel is one where the characters are well-developed and the story of a life is shown deeply. A great read.
A Dublin Student Doctor by Patrick Taylor, read by John Keating
This is the third novel I've listened to in the Irish Country series. The others are An Irish Country Girl, an An Irish Country Doctor. There are others in the series I haven't read yet.
Patrick Taylor was born and grew up in Ireland and became a doctor there. He now lives in B.C.
This novel features Doctor Fingal O'Reilly. Dr. O'Reilly is driving home from the races in 1965 when he comes across an accident. One of his patients has crashed his motorcycle.
Dr. O'Reilly accompanies him in the ambulance to the hospital, and falls into reminiscences of his medical student days in Dublin. The novel becomes a tales of those days in the mid 1930s.
Dr. O'Reilly overcame his father's objections and other hardships to become a doctor. He studied at Trinity College and Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital. During those student days he made lifelong friends with 3 other medical students and romanced a nursing student, Kitty O'Hallorhan. The novel shows the extent of medical education at the time, the social situation in Dublin, and gives insight into the character of O'Reilly, who has been featured in the other novels in this series.
This novel is one where the characters are well-developed and the story of a life is shown deeply. A great read.
50 Book Pledge
Savvy Reader has sponsored the 50 book pledge, which asks people to pledge to read at least 50 books in 2012. I figure I can commit to that easily ;-)
They say more details are coming, so I`ll watch to see what they`re up to.
Savvy Reader is a HarperCollins blog, with a fair bit of posting.
They say more details are coming, so I`ll watch to see what they`re up to.
Savvy Reader is a HarperCollins blog, with a fair bit of posting.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Seven Good Reasons Not To Be Good
Finished January 6
Seven Good Reasons Not to Be Good by John Gould
Gould is another writer I hadn't read before, but I'm sorry about that. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.
As the book opens, Matt is flying from Vancouver to Toronto with two purposes. One, to see his father who he hasn't seen in a while and who he worries about. Two, to see his best friend Zane and try to keep him from dying. Matt is also happy to leave home for a while. His marriage with Mariko is on the rocks, as she been having an affair. He has lost his job writing movie reviews when they discovered a bit more creativity on his end than he expected.
Matt finds himself suddenly resistent to visiting anyone though and holes up in a pricey hotel room for a while, and that choice gives him a totally new adventure.
Interesting characters and an amazing plot line make this book hard to put down.
The theme of goodness, and how the definitions of virtue and vice are hard to pin down evolve through the book.
Seven Good Reasons Not to Be Good by John Gould
Gould is another writer I hadn't read before, but I'm sorry about that. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.
As the book opens, Matt is flying from Vancouver to Toronto with two purposes. One, to see his father who he hasn't seen in a while and who he worries about. Two, to see his best friend Zane and try to keep him from dying. Matt is also happy to leave home for a while. His marriage with Mariko is on the rocks, as she been having an affair. He has lost his job writing movie reviews when they discovered a bit more creativity on his end than he expected.
Matt finds himself suddenly resistent to visiting anyone though and holes up in a pricey hotel room for a while, and that choice gives him a totally new adventure.
Interesting characters and an amazing plot line make this book hard to put down.
The theme of goodness, and how the definitions of virtue and vice are hard to pin down evolve through the book.
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Beautiful Lie the Dead
Finished January 4
Beautiful Lie the Dead by Barbara Fradkin
This is the second book in the Inspector Green series that I've read (This Thing of Darkness is the other one). They are very well done and involve Green's personal life as well as his work life. Set in Ottawa, they evoke the flavour of the city. This is a winter novel, with snow a key part of the plot.
When a young woman vanishes less than a month before her wedding, there is uncertainty as to whether there is foul play. Bodies are discovered, trails are followed, and leads go back decades to earlier events. Some of the trail leads to Montreal as well, and the detective introduced there is an intriguing new character I'd like to see more of. Lots of family themed plot here and a glimpse into the power of wealth to change outcomes. A great mystery for this time of year.
Beautiful Lie the Dead by Barbara Fradkin
This is the second book in the Inspector Green series that I've read (This Thing of Darkness is the other one). They are very well done and involve Green's personal life as well as his work life. Set in Ottawa, they evoke the flavour of the city. This is a winter novel, with snow a key part of the plot.
When a young woman vanishes less than a month before her wedding, there is uncertainty as to whether there is foul play. Bodies are discovered, trails are followed, and leads go back decades to earlier events. Some of the trail leads to Montreal as well, and the detective introduced there is an intriguing new character I'd like to see more of. Lots of family themed plot here and a glimpse into the power of wealth to change outcomes. A great mystery for this time of year.
Monday, 2 January 2012
The Long March Home
Finished January 2
The Long March Home by Zoe S Roy
This book follows Meihua, a young mother in China and her daughter Yezi. Meihua is the daughter of an American missionary woman and a Chinese man. She was born in the United States, but came to China to try to find her father. Instead she met and married Lon, and began a family. With the Cultural Revolution, Lon has been sent to the mines, and Meihua is struggling to keep a low profile and support her family with the help of a servant, Yao. When Meihua is denounced and sent to labour camp, Yao stays unpaid and raises the two younger children, struggling to keep enough food on the table. Yezi is only a baby, and grows close to Yao, even while seeing her father occasionally and her mother once a year.
As Yezi grows, the restrictions abate, and Meihua is released. Yezi learns about her American grandmother and joins her mother in curiosity about her grandfather.
I found the parts in China compelling and interesting as well as Yezi's experience when she came to see her grandmother. But the ending of this novel seemed rushed and simplified, like the author just wanted to wrap everything up neatly. This could have been a much better book, but for that.
I look forward to Roy's next effort.
The Long March Home by Zoe S Roy
This book follows Meihua, a young mother in China and her daughter Yezi. Meihua is the daughter of an American missionary woman and a Chinese man. She was born in the United States, but came to China to try to find her father. Instead she met and married Lon, and began a family. With the Cultural Revolution, Lon has been sent to the mines, and Meihua is struggling to keep a low profile and support her family with the help of a servant, Yao. When Meihua is denounced and sent to labour camp, Yao stays unpaid and raises the two younger children, struggling to keep enough food on the table. Yezi is only a baby, and grows close to Yao, even while seeing her father occasionally and her mother once a year.
As Yezi grows, the restrictions abate, and Meihua is released. Yezi learns about her American grandmother and joins her mother in curiosity about her grandfather.
I found the parts in China compelling and interesting as well as Yezi's experience when she came to see her grandmother. But the ending of this novel seemed rushed and simplified, like the author just wanted to wrap everything up neatly. This could have been a much better book, but for that.
I look forward to Roy's next effort.
Global Reading Challenge
I've found the 2012 edition of the Global Reading Challenge and will join.
The rules here are different than the one I did last year in that this one limits the reading to fiction. That is a bit disappointing, but still workable. (I amend that as I just looked at last year's and it was supposed to be fiction, but I didn't catch that, so didn't do it and never got reprimanded. But since I didn't finish anyway, I guess the point is moot. ;->)
I'm going to go for the Expert level again, which is 3 from each continent.
Read three novels from each of these continents in the course of 2012:
Africa
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)
The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).
Select novels from twenty-one different countries or states if possible. (For Australasia, selecting a different state for your last book will be acceptable)
The rules here are different than the one I did last year in that this one limits the reading to fiction. That is a bit disappointing, but still workable. (I amend that as I just looked at last year's and it was supposed to be fiction, but I didn't catch that, so didn't do it and never got reprimanded. But since I didn't finish anyway, I guess the point is moot. ;->)
I'm going to go for the Expert level again, which is 3 from each continent.
Read three novels from each of these continents in the course of 2012:
Africa
Asia
Australasia
Europe
North America
South America (please include Central America where it is most convenient for you)
The Seventh Continent (here you can either choose Antarctica or your own ´seventh´ setting, eg the sea, the space, a supernatural/paranormal world, history, the future – you name it).
Select novels from twenty-one different countries or states if possible. (For Australasia, selecting a different state for your last book will be acceptable)
Sunday, 1 January 2012
Brief Summary of 2011 Reading
I'm not going to talk about individual books here, just give a summary of reading.
I read 193 books in 2011.
84 of them were by Canadian authors.
13 were kids' books.
8 were teen books.
46 were nonfiction.
6 were translations.
2 were graphic novels.
7 were short story collections.
27 were audiobooks.
2 were poetry books.
1 was a collection of essays.
I read 193 books in 2011.
84 of them were by Canadian authors.
13 were kids' books.
8 were teen books.
46 were nonfiction.
6 were translations.
2 were graphic novels.
7 were short story collections.
27 were audiobooks.
2 were poetry books.
1 was a collection of essays.
Every Time We Say Goodbye
Finished January 1
Every Time We Say Goodbye by Jamie Zeppa
This is a novel about the Turner family, based in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. The novel is told in several voices.
We have Grace, who was disconnected from life after her mother died. Grace who had a baby without a husband. While her brother Frank and his wife Vera supported her and the baby, there was a struggle for control. Grace left to make a new life for herself, and worried that when she went back for the baby, Frank and Vera wouldn't let him go.
We have Dean, raised as Frank and Vera's son, finding a birth certificate for Daniel, son of Grace Turner, and adoption papers. He is interrupted and next time he looks the papers are gone. Dean struggles with who he is and who his birth parents are. He runs wild and isn't an involved father himself.
We have Laura, who encountered Dean once on one of his sprees and can't forget him. When she finds him again, she won't let him go. Or will she?
We have Dawn, Dean's daughter, raised by Frank and Vera, having her own struggles for her place in the world. She wants to understand her family and why her parents weren't there for her, why she and her brother Jimmy live with Frank and Vera. As Dawn's actions finally bring the family together, there is hope for truth and a more positive future.
This book has sadness and happiness, death and birth. It is the story of a family with its ups and downs. Engaging and flowing, this book will capture you with its characters.
Every Time We Say Goodbye by Jamie Zeppa
This is a novel about the Turner family, based in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. The novel is told in several voices.
We have Grace, who was disconnected from life after her mother died. Grace who had a baby without a husband. While her brother Frank and his wife Vera supported her and the baby, there was a struggle for control. Grace left to make a new life for herself, and worried that when she went back for the baby, Frank and Vera wouldn't let him go.
We have Dean, raised as Frank and Vera's son, finding a birth certificate for Daniel, son of Grace Turner, and adoption papers. He is interrupted and next time he looks the papers are gone. Dean struggles with who he is and who his birth parents are. He runs wild and isn't an involved father himself.
We have Laura, who encountered Dean once on one of his sprees and can't forget him. When she finds him again, she won't let him go. Or will she?
We have Dawn, Dean's daughter, raised by Frank and Vera, having her own struggles for her place in the world. She wants to understand her family and why her parents weren't there for her, why she and her brother Jimmy live with Frank and Vera. As Dawn's actions finally bring the family together, there is hope for truth and a more positive future.
This book has sadness and happiness, death and birth. It is the story of a family with its ups and downs. Engaging and flowing, this book will capture you with its characters.
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