Book 48 of 52: Children of My Heart

This book contains a few short and sweet stories about various students that Gabrielle Roy (1909 - 1983) taught in a small school in the rural prairies. It's won the Governor Generals award and also made into a Canadian made for TV movie. If you're looking for something to read that's just a 'nice story' and don't have a lot of time to read it -- this is the one. Having two young boys also made me appreciate this all the more!

Book 47 of 52: Through the Glass

 

I love reading local authors. This was written by an Oakville author, my age, who most recently taught at Oakville Trafalagar High School. This is Shannon Moroney's memoir.

Here's the beginning of the story...
"At age 30, she married Jason whom she had known and loved for three years. They bought a house in Peterborough where they planned to start a family. Their wedding in October 2005 was a joyful Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends. One month later, Shannon's life was traumatically altered: When she was out of town, attending a teachers’ conference, police came to her hotel room to ask her to return. Her house was a crime scene and her husband was in custody after confessing to violent sexual assault and kidnapping of two women."

All I can say about this book is that it will change how you look at things. It will change how you view your loved ones. It will change how you view the concept of forgiveness. And it will change how you view our prison system.

I also noticed a thank you at the end of this book to Terry Fallis, the author of another favourite book, The Best Laid Plans. Clearly, there's a network of local authors producing some terrific work.

6 Weeks to go

The countdown has begun. I have 6 weeks until the end of the year and 7 more books to read if I'm going to make my goal of 52 books. I think I can do it, with some conditions.

1. The kids cannot get sick before December 31st.
2. Glen and I are going away next weekend and he'll have to be content with me reading the entire time. Let's hope I can find him a good book (I'm thinking he'll like Divergent).
3. The two lieu days I've saved up at work may need be taken as uninterrupted reading days.
4. Grey's Anatomy, Amazing Race, and Dexter will have to be the only television I allow myself to watch each week.
5. There will be no long classics as part of the remaining 7 books. The Thorn Birds, Crime and Punishment, War and Peace will all have to wait until 2013.

Wish me luck!

Book 46 of 52: The White Tiger

This novel is the winner of the Man Booker Prize from a few years ago. It was described to me as "a confession of a taxi-driving murderer". After just finishing two terrific books (Chai Tea Sunday and Love Anthony) this one was a bit of a let down. It was very dark and drawn out. I couldn't relate to the main character (and narrator) and had little compassion for him. Generally I love reading books about India, but I guess that I prefer them to be more uplifting.

Book 45 of 52: Loving Anthony

This book was just recently published and I thought it would be a while until I could get it from the library. After reading Still Alice and Left Neglected last year, I was eagerly awaiting Lisa Genova's next novel. Thank you to my good friend Lisa who passed her library copy along to me before the due date.

I had high hopes and was a little worried about halfway through as I thought it was good (just 'good') and that I might be let down a little. But I know this author and trusted that she wouldn't let me down. Another great one from Lisa Genova! Maybe I need to find some more PhD scientists who are also fiction writers.

The story is about two 30-something women, unknown to each other, who live year-round on Nantucket Island. Beth, has 3 girls, and has just been cheated on by her husand Jimmy. Olivia has just moved to the Island where her once husband Dan and their autistic son Anthony had owned a vacation cottage. This book describes the challenges both women have had in their marriages, as well as how they are re-discovering and re-defining who they are.

I think this book would absolutely tear at your heart if you have a child with autism. I had that eerie "I can relate" feeling throughout reading it. I suspect the struggles of marriage and mothering are universal to many of us. In fact, any mother is likely to have a few tears reading this story. 

Book 44 of 52: Chai Tea Sunday

This was a recommendation from a colleague at work. I didn't even realize the author was from Oakville until another friend of mine mentioned it.

I can't tell you how excited I was to read such an awesome book, especially coming from a mom of young children that lives in my neighbourhood. How cool is that?

She wrote this while on maternity leave with her second child and this article mentions she's currently working on her second novel while on at leave with her third child. I've got to say it's very impressive that she found time to write with a new infant. The lack of sleep for me completely turned my brain to "off". It must be a true passion for her. Then again, I know of other writers that have made the time, even with young children, my friend Evadne is one of them.

Note - January 1, 2013
I realized I never finished writing the review of this book. Chai Tea Sunday is a wonderful story and I highly recommend it. It made me want to pack up and take my family to Ethiopia and volunteer at an orphanage for a year. However, my vision of an idyllic trip and learning experience for us is no longer. Sadly, a good friend of ours tragically lost one of her good friends, Susuan Wells, only weeks ago while she was on a volunteer mission providing aid to children in Tanzania. Our heart goes out to our friend Shelley as well as the Wells' family.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/12/03/tanzania-wells-murder-arrest.html