It seemed to happen all at once, this colour and coolness. My husband and I had patio beers with some friends on Saturday, and barbecued in our backyard with other friends on Sunday, and now this. It seems cliché to be this excited for this particular month and the season it shows off so well. But really, fall is the most Me the world ever is. I’m especially excited to experience these changes in a new […]
A friend of mine told me that Macondo Books in Guelph was going out of business, and were having a sale this weekend. I went, not just for the sale, but to say goodbye. Maybe that sounds corny, but it’s true. I always found at least one great book every time I went there, and the environment itself was welcoming. It never smelled musty, it was bright, and there were books stacked on every possible surface, as
I’ve been reading poems like mad recently, so I got excited when Teri invited me to an evening of readings hosted by her friend, poet Gillian Sze. Even getting there felt sort of poetic, visuals full of meaning. My husband and I drove down Dundas in the rain, passing through the Junction, Little Portugal, Trinity-Bellwoods. Neighbourhoods that seemed so physically and spiritually remote when I lived in Toronto. We parked in Chinatown and walked the rest
And when I say “book fair,” I don’t mean readings or lectures about books or writing or anything like that. I mean a building with multiple rooms of cheap books to buy. Basically, heaven. It started on Wednesday and Saturday was the last day, so my husband and I drove down to Brantford first thing Saturday morning. Some of the signs were great, but of course the books were the best thing. We filled a shopping
Scenes from a book fair. Read More »
Winter has traditionally been my best writing season. My brain, which sloshes around sluggishly all summer, wakes up and wants to get to work. However, this winter I seem to still be “recovering” from the intensity of my Humber writing mentorship. Either that, or I’m still shaking off the holiday laziness. Though lately the weather has been almost springlike, I find myself retreating, staying silent and still. Wearing mostly black and grey, apparently: Reading about
The joy of repetition really is in you Read More »
I had a bulleted list of highlights written out about my seven-hour day spent at the International Festival of Authors (mostly) with Teri, but for some reason it all seems so personal. I think it has to do with the feeling of being a fan in the way Teri so wonderfully described it. I met my Humber writing mentor, Donna Morrissey, after her interview, and she was so charming and funny and personable and wise, just
It’s a cloudy, dark day today, though warmer than it has been. It’s quiet. Somewhere around 4pm, there was suddenly nothing else I wanted to do than read an old favourite, The Mayor of Casterbridge. At one point in my life I would have called this my favourite book. I don’t know why, but Victorian novels are so cozy and relaxing for me. I don’t want to claim that I’m some great fancy reader of Victorian
Thoughts on reading. Read More »
I finished reading this book a few days ago. It took me a while, because reading Alice Munro both uplifts me and makes me feel like writing is futile. To distract myself from the latter feeling, I often flipped to the inscription on the front. Yesterday it was my birthday I hung one more year on the line . . . I should go to bed, but a voice in my head says ‘oh what
I seem to be preparing for winter hibernation much too early; before it even threatens snow. I walk through the library, judging books by their covers. I read voraciously in the mornings, when it’s still dark. In the daytime, I discover ideas for short stories I’d forgotten about. And last weekend, evenings were spent getting lost in a different kind of story. J and I discuss strategy over dinner, sharing our favourite parts of the
Best background noise to read to. This was a few days ago. Last night there was rain, but there was intense thunder and flashing lightning, too, all around us, all the time. All summer I’ve been longing for a really good thunderstorm and then I got what I asked for, one so great it scared me for the first time since childhood (well, the tornado risk scared me, anyway). Yesterday I also went on roller
