Nora Roberts The Search

I (almost) feel guilty.

When I was offered a copy of Nora Roberts' latest (well - I think it's her latest; that woman is SO prolific, sometimes it's hard to tell) I jumped at the opportunity to read and review it.

I (almost always) enjoy Roberts' work. The J.D. Robbs series are my absolute favourite - but I have enjoyed many, many of her other novels as well. I can't think of any that I didn't, actually - and I have read a great many of them (Vampire series excluded; I don't DO vampires. NOT EVER, even for Nora)

So ... my hardcover copy of The Search arrived a couple of weeks ago. I was in the middle of re-reading Dragonfly in Amber - one of Galbaldon's Outlander series - but hey, I've read them before, so I put that down and switched to The Search.

Made it to about page 117 ...and it was far harder slogging than I expect a Nora Roberts book to be. It is not BAD, per se. Just - so far, anyway - boring. Way, way, WAY too much dog training detail. I get that she's a trainer and he has a bad dog ....but for crying out loud, could we get to the STORY? You know... the one that's on the inside flap about the serial killer ...and the attraction between Fiona and Simon? When does THAT show up? The characteristic tensions that Roberts can do so well just seems to be missing from this one.... or maybe it's just me?

I will finish it... but honestly, only because they gave me the book to review - I will feel guilty if I don't.

So. I will be back with a more complete review of it when I have actually finished the book. But so far, I'm mostly just dying to put it down and get back to Claire and Jamie.

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P.K. Page 1913 - 2010

P.K. Page died today.

P.K. was an extremely prolific poet and artist (as Page Irwin); last year (at the age of 92), she published a children's book - The Sky Tree - and also other works, including Coal and Roses, which I have written about on this blog.

I was talking about P.K. just today; my Canadian Literature into Film class meets in the Page Irwin Colloquium Room, which was dedicated last year. The room is an incredible learning space used primarily for Trent University's Public Texts M.A. program, and includes several pieces of her artwork, in chronological order around the room.

I am so sad that I missed out on an opportunity to meet her last year - it was rescheduled a couple of times and ended up being at about the same time as I had booked my flight back from Victoria for - but she did sign a copy of Coal and Roses for me. Now, obviously, I will never have the opportunity to get to know her in person.

R.I.P, P.K. You will be missed.

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The Dragon Book

This week when we got back from Peterborough, there was a new book from Penguin Canada waiting for me. A collection of never-before published stories, The Dragon Book features - you guessed it - stories about dragons.

Lots & lots of dragons. Big fiery dragons, annoying little ones, a worm-like dragon, talking/non-talking dragons... all sorts of dragons.

And of course, all sorts of other characters to go with them.

There are a lot of big name authors who have contributed to this edition, including Jonathon Stroud, Gregory Maguire, Diana Gabaldon, Tamora Pierce and many others. Edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois, the collection includes stories for everyone.

It's unlikely that any one reader is likely to enjoy every story - there are a few that just did not engage my interest, and given the limited amount of time I have for reading texts-that-aren't-on-the-syllabus these days, I happily moved on to those that did.

But with this many well-written stories to choose from, it just doesn't matter - there is still plenty of excellent reading in The Dragon Book. My particular favourite is "Oakland Dragon Blues" by Peter S. Beagle, although Kate Baker's "Are You Afflicted With Dragons" is a close second.

Whether you are looking for great reading for yourself, or perhaps a gift for a dragon-loving friend or family member, The Dragon Book is sure to please.

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My ~New~ Book - Seeds of Pine

On the way home from Peterborough today, Ross & I stopped at an antique shop. Lots of WAY cool stuff - including a $5000 desk that I am now coveting....and $600+ light fixtures that would be PERFECT in our Peterborough house.

Actually, also makes me wonder how much some of the light fixtures we DO have might be worth - there is one right inside the front door that looks like it has probably been there since the house was built in the early 1900s. It's missing a shade though - and not something you can just pick up at Home Depot.

Anyway, in addition to bunches of way cool antiques that would be PERFECT for the P. house, they also had a very nice selection of books. LOTS of Canadiana - and since I'm in Canadian Studies, now, I have a much better excuse to buy Canadiana, right? Right!

There were plenty I would have liked to buy - there was a Canadian military history that almost came home with me - but then we spotted a 1922 edition of Seeds of Pine by Janey Canuck.

Janey Canuck was the pen name of Emily Ferguson Murphy, who is one of the so-called Famous Five, "the women who carried the Persons Case to the Privy Council in England where, on October 18, 1929, the decision was handed down that women were persons qualified to become members of the Senate of Canada" (Library and Archives Canada). She was a social activist, the founder of the Federated Women's Institute for rural women, and in 1916, she became the first female police magistrate in the British Empire.

Most of what I have found out about her is focused on her activism rather than her literature - I'm looking forward to reading the book to find out why. And to assess whether this might be a potential editing project for an aspiring Canadian Studies PhD student! Will have to see what there is in the archives about her too... perhaps I shall have a look when I am in Ottawa next month. (Like I need more archive work! But seriously, I am interested)

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Still Around

Funny, isn't it? Now that I am in Canadian Studies, I just don't seem to have much time for reading Canadian fiction.

Obviously, I am going to have to make time for it again! I'm going into withdrawal.

Right at the moment though, I'm mostly engaged in reading Canadian NONfiction. Suppose I could write about some of that too.

Will spare you the many academic articles I have been reading for my core course - interesting as they may be. Actually, I have enjoyed reading them far more than I expected to. I'm a little embarassed at how much I have already learned - I am almost 50 years old and have lived in Canada for all but a few years (during which we lived in Germany; I'm an air force brat) - and I was around for many of the events I have been reading about - I just didn't pay much attention!

I should know a lot more about Canada than I do - and by the end of this year, I will.

But I am reading a couple of interesting nonfiction books - got 3 on the go right now, actually.

One is Taking Back Our Spirits by Jo-Ann Episkenew - a book about Indigenous literature, public policy and healing that is based on the author's PhD thesis. I met Jo-Ann at Congress earlier this year, and will hopefully see her again at Congress next year as well. The book is highly readable - a LOT more readable than many other based-on-thesis books I've waded through - and I'm sure that I will be able to use it.

I've also just finished Joseph Gold's The Story Species - that would be us, i.e. humans. A very interesting read, and like Taking Back Our Spirits, very relevant to my thesis research. Gold also wrote Read For Your Life which I absolutely love, and which is the most commonly cited book in many of my research papers - it is an excellent resource on the function of fiction, which is, of course, the topic of my doctoral research. Me - I'm doing doctoral research - isn't that cool?!

My bathtub book right now is also Canadian nonfiction - I've been reading Neil Sutherland's book about the history of childhood in Canada (Growing Up). I've read one chapter of this work numerous times - "When You Listen to the Winds of Childhood" - I used it when I was working on my honours essay in fourth year, and have used it since, also. When I saw the book in a used book store, I had to buy it.... but just now getting around to actually reading it!

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