Wrote this yesterday, just sharing ...

How old did you say you were?

Didn't say, never do
just toss some cliché instead
about being

old enough.

I tuck in my little one,
taxi my teenagers;
still whine about not owning a dishwasher
twenty years after "I do".

I remember "the bump"
Crocodile Rock
disco balls and
Don't stop 'till you get enough ...

but never again
can I claim fame to be
exactly nine years
younger than the man who
moonwalked the walls of my bedroom;
thrilled the world in the '80's.

Awards, Nominations and lame excuses.

Hoping to relieve some of my blogger guilt after at least five people nominated me for a BBAW in the best commenter/commentator category (thank you!), I'd like to share and pass on a few awards.

Way, way back in June, two of the coolest bloggers on the block gave me the following:

First from Gwendolyn of A Sea of Books came the Lemonade Award. This is a real feel-good award for blogs that show great attitude or gratitude and although lemonade is not my favourite drink by a longshot (I hate the stuff actually, blech!) I very much enjoy Gwendolyn's blog!

Wheeling the cart over to:

• Book Lover Lisa of Books Ahoy!
• Melody of Melody's Reading Corner
• Maggie of Maggie Reads
  

Next, I was honoured to receive the Literary Blogger Award from Molly of The Bumbles Blog. This beautiful award "... acknowledges bloggers who energize & inspire reading by going the extra mile. These amazing bloggers make reading fun & enhance the delight of reading!"

Passing this lovely on to:

• Daibhin of The Whimsy Reader
• Jean of DogEar Diary
• J.T. Oldfield of Bibliofreak
  

Most recently, Michael of A Few Minutes With Michael bestowed the Superior Scribbler Award upon A Season to Read. Thank you, Michael. I'm plumped up with pride to be among your chosen recipients!

Now this award comes with a few strings attached so if you don't want to end up with a knotted mess it's best to just sort out the minor details first.

The strings:

1. Each Superior Scribbler (SS) must pass the award on to 5 most-deserving bloggy buds.
2. Each SS must link to the author and name of blog from whom he/she has received the award
3. Each SS must display the award on his/her blog and link to this post which fully explains the award.
4. Each blogger who wins must visit this post and add their name to the Mr. Linky list at the Scholastic-Scribe’s blog so we can keep track of all who win this prestigious award!
5. Each SS must post these rules on their blog.

Five blogs and their authors that continually keep me coming back for more:

1. John at The Book Mine Set
2. Teddy Rose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
3. Anna at Diary of an Eccentric
4. Sandra at Fresh Ink Books
5. Dar at Peeking Between the Pages

I know it has taken me forever to post and present a couple of these awards and the only valid excuse I have is with the SS given by Michael. I was busy preparing for and waiting out Hurricane Bill. Thank goodness Bill turned out to be nothing more than a blowhard that skirted up our coast and cost us our corn. I'll take a few flattened flowers and heavy rain over the 10 days without power and lasting effects of Hurricane Juan anyday! Other than that, I've been busy with a few home renovations, getting the kids ready for back to school and enjoying summer. I also have the habitual excuse of ignoring my own blog to visit and comment elsewhere which also bites into my time spent with books but " Can't help it, the girl can't help it ..."

Teaser Time!

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to: Grab your current read. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!


No matter how many times Miles might beat him, humiliate him, better him in front of Margot and whatever audience might be on hand, Wade will keep coming back because he has arrived at the point of believing he has nothing left to have taken from him. As Miles has learned of himself as well as others, it isn't pride that makes a fighter truly dangerous, but the total lack of it.

From page 88 of The Wildfire Season ~ Andrew Pyper

Southern Reading Wrap Up!

Officially ending today, I read three books by Pat Cunningham Devoto for the this challenge (and have been making home-brewed ice tea nearly everyday since!).

1. My Last Days as Roy Rogers
2. Out of the Night that Covers Me
3. The Summer We Got Saved
   

All were good but #2 was my favourite.
I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!

My thanks to Maggie of Maggie Reads for hosting this challenge!

Consumption

Consumption

Kevin Patterson

Random House Canada, 2006

394 pages



"Ours is a less heroic age."
3.9 / 5

STORMS ARE SEX. They exist alongside and are indifferent to words and description and dissection. It had been blizzarding for five days and Victoria had no words to describe her restlessness. Motion everywhere, even the floors vibrated, and such motion as was impossible to ignore, just as it was impossible not to notice the squeaking walls, the relentless shuddering of the wind.

Opening with such suggestively imagistic language, I thought, "Ohhhh yeah, now here is a book I can really get into!" ... and I did. However, I was slightly disappointed that for the most part, the rest of the novel doesn't quite measure up to the poetic prose of the above quote. Still and all, I did enjoy my time spent with this book.

Essentially, Consumption is the story of how life is altered by changes. The main plot centers around one woman and the role her family plays within the northern community of Rankin Inlet. There are many sub-plots and more than a few characters to get to know; their stories knitted together with an air of impending doom. Change can be good but at what cost?

Victoria is only 10 yrs old in 1962, when because of Tuberculosis, she must leave the nomadic Inuit hunting life she has known to seek treatment at a sanatorium in The Pas, Manitoba. Six years and one painful operation later, Victoria and her family have undergone dramatic change. Returning a stranger to a "settled" life, Victoria will always be viewed as an outsider. Her choice to marry a Kablunauk (white), will further impregnate this sense of separateness within her children.

Pauloosie is Victoria's son and my favourite character from this book. It is his story, his struggle with identity, his longing for the old ways and his bond with his grandfather — and later his forced choices — that I found most affecting.

Reading the last chapters of this book which fall under the heading The Diseases of Affluence, one wonders if they were a necessary inclusion. Interesting though they may be, I think perhaps [Dr.] Kevin Patterson couldn't resist the plea for a wake up call. When the main theme of the book is so clearly conveyed through it's story and characters, why beat the reader over the head with it? As a work of fiction, I felt the emotional and epitaphic conclusion, the ascension of the soul of the book, more moving on page 340 than 394.

For me, reading Consumption was a little like watching multiple episodes of my once favourite CBC drama series, North of 60. Mystery, romance, angst and intrigue are all there within the pages of Consumption, just as they are readily available at the flick of a remote or turn of a page. But like the Dene in North of 60, the Inuit cultural references in Consumption (fictionalized or not) lend an added depth to both the characters and the storyline upping the entertainment value.


* Kevin Patterson grew up in Manitoba and put himself through medical school by joining the Canadian army. Now a specialist in internal medicine, he practices in the Arctic and on the coast of British Columbia. *


For a varying take on this book, check out John Mutford's review .


** Consumption is my first selection for the 3rd Canadian Book Challenge. **

Up for Grabs!

Available to be won around the book blogs:

1. The Apple ~ Bibliofreak (ends Aug. 31st)
2. It's choose your own book week over at Stone Soup! (ends Aug. 30th)
   

Canadian Book Favourites Meme

Canadian Favourites:

1. Favourite Canadian author?
Margaret Laurence

2. Favourite Canadian novel?
The Diviners ~ Margaret Laurence

3. Favourite Canadian nonfiction?
Baltimore's Mansion ~ Wayne Johnston

4. Favourite Canadian picture book?
Red Parka Mary ~ Peter Eyvindson. Illustrated by Rhian Brynjolson.

5. Favourite Canadian YA or juvenile chapter book?
A Winter for Leo ~ Nicole Leroux (juvenile)
Dust ~ Arthur Slade (YA)

6. Favourite Canadian science fiction or fantasy book?
Torrie and the Dragon ~ K.V. Johansen

7. Favourite Canadian romantic fiction?
Most would probably consider this historical fiction but I thought The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart wonderfully romantic!

8. Favourite Canadian mystery?
The Way the Crow Flies ~ Anne Marie MacDonald

9. Favourite Canadian graphic novel?
?

10. Favourite Canadian book blog?
The Bookmine Set, it's led me to other great book blogs I also enjoy!

11. Favourite Canadian fictional character?
Female: Morag Gunn from The Diviners ~ Margaret Laurence
Male: Tillman from The Stone Carvers ~ Jane Urquhart

12. Favourite movie based on a Canadian novel or story?
Margaret's Museum ~ Based on The Company Store and The Glace Bay Miner's Museum by Sheldon Currie

13. Favourite Canadian short story?
'Skyglass Bastard', Kari Strutt

14. Favourite Canadian poet?
Alden Nowlan, Janice Kulyk Keefer, Margaret Atwood, Eli Mandel, Dionne Brand, Lorna Crozier and more ...

15. Favourite Canadian poem?
Oranges ~ Janice Kulyk Keefer

16. Favourite Canadian play?
Goodnight Desdemona, Good Morning Juliet! ~ Ann-Marie MacDonald

17. Favourite novel by an established Canadian author?
Who Has Seen the Wind ~ W.O. Mitchell

18. Favourite novel by an up-and-coming Canadian author?
Mostly Happy ~ Pam Bustin

19. Favourite Canadian book award?
The Governor General's Literary Awards

20. Favourite Canadian publisher?
Broken Jaw Press

21. Favourite Canadian humorous book?
The Divine Ryans ~ Wayne Johnston

22. Favourite Canadian newspaper?
The Chronicle Herald

23. Favourite Canadian magazine or journal?
Event ~ The Douglas College Review

24. Favourite Canadian dystopian novel?
Not really my thing but if I were going to read one I'd likely pick a Margaret Atwood. I already admire her poetry and have heard much about 'The Hand Maid's Tale' .

25. Favourite Canadian epistolary novel?
The Hatbox Letters ~ Beth Powning

*26. Favourite Canadian book to recommend as a Family Read-Aloud?
The House of Wooden Santas ~ Kevin Major

*27. Favourite Canadian novel read so far this year?
Shelf Monkey ~ Corey Redekop


Love Canadian Literature and want to play along? Join John of The Book Minset here to leave a link to your answers.