Bookish

I've always been a reader, ever since I was a little girl. I remember well the thrill of holding a brand new book in my hands, gripping it to my chest and marvelling at the possibilities of what magic its pages might hold.

Some things never change. I picked these up at the library today, and I'm in bed with them nice and early, trying to decide which to read first. A brand-new, juicy Jane Greene, or the marvellously strange new novel from Kate Atkinson (whose first book, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, I completely adored).

Which would you choose? And what's on your bedside table right now?

I couldn't agree more

Mr Lewis and I see eye-to-eye on this one. Sure, the weather's hot and I'm drinking more iced tea than the regular kind, but it still counts. And I am devouring books at a rapid rate. Just finished The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner and  Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella. Currently reading The Good Daughters by Joyce Maynard {and thoroughly enjoying it}, and next up is Tara Road by Maeve Binchy. I'll be finished them all by the weekend and back to the library for more! It seems none of the books I've read lately is quite long enough, so I just keep picking up another.

What are you reading this summer? I'd love some recommendations {and that reminds me, I've got a book review post in my drafts folder of all my summer reads... really must get that finished up so I can recommend a few favourites to you}.

Happy Wednesday, lovelies.

print via a favourite Etsy shop, What Katie Does

Happy Birthday, Harry!

I hope there's a party at the Burrow, and that all your favourite people are there... 

Maybe Hagrid will bake the cake?

image from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

I can't wait

... to read the new {and totally groovy} Pete the Cat book to my kindergarten kids today. They're going to love it! We'll read it, sing the song, make some excellent Pete the Cat artwork with buttons glued on...

And then I'll bring it home and read it to the boys at bedtime. Yay! Do you know the Pete the Cat books? If not, I highly recommend them. They're both hilarious and awesome. And Pete? Well, he's one very cool blue cat.

I'll be back later on today with the return of E & me. It's about time, non?

Until then, happy Wednesday!

E xo

Good-bye, Mr Sendak {and good-bye, library}

I loved Where the Wild Things Are when I was growing up {didn't you?}, and revelled in studying it during my university years as a children's lit major. I even had a t-shirt from my boyfriend's fraternity with "Let the wild rumpus start!" written across the back that I wore regularly. I wish I still had it. I'd have worn it today.

The pictures in Where the Wild Things Are are marvellous and the story so simple. It's no wonder that it often holds the top spot on so many lists of the best picture books of all time.

Today, to commemorate the life of its beloved author and illustrator {who passed away this morning}, I shared it with the classes that came through the library. We read about the the wild rumpus, coloured pictures of Max and the wild things, and talked about how long the book has been around {"Mrs Pugh! It's even older than you!"} Then I showed them Maurice Sendak's other books and we looked at all the amazing illustrations in them. We talked about the Caldecott Medal. And I let the kids hold my stuffed wild thing, the one I got as a gift when I graduated from UVic with my Bachelor of Education. It was a great library day. I love being an elementary school librarian, getting to share my enthusiasm for books with so many kids. And now the pressure is on to love it even more, to make the most of the next 8 weeks.

Why? Because soon I won't be a librarian anymore. I found out last week that, after 6 1/2 years, my last day in the library will be June 29th.  It will be good {and challenging} to be back in the classroom full-time I'm sure, but that's not until the fall. Right now, I'm still getting used to the idea of leaving my library behind. And I have to confess, I'm feeling a little bit heartbroken about it.

Happy things to end the week with

As you may have gathered from recent posts, this hasn't been the greatest week. I've had a horrible head cold, BC's teachers are going on strike {this is not going to be fun}, and, worst of all, a very dear friend of mine suddenly and tragically lost her mom on Tuesday night. I feel tired and discouraged and heartbroken. But am trying to find the good wherever I can. And so, some "happy things to end the week with":

Cass and I got tickets to see The Hunger Games in IMAX on March 29th! It's going to be ah-mazing.

via here

Tonight, after a good, long run on the treadmill, I came home and ran a bubble bath. Then I soaked in the tub for ages, with this book that Em sent me. It's light and fluffy and exactly what I need right now. And, it takes place in NYC {18 days till take-off!}

via here

I splurged on myself and bought this super cute, bright orange jacket from Joe Fresh the other night. Isn't it fun?  I love it. I've decided I wear altogether too much black and grey. Time for some bright, cheerful colours in my wardrobe.

via here

So, I should probably go back and get this to go with it, right? Yeah, I thought so.

via here

Singing along to Adele's "Someone Like You" in the van today. Twice.

I need this album.

And finally, it's Saturday tomorrow. I am definitely sleeping in.

Have a good weekend, friends. Hold your loved ones tight.
E xo

May the odds be ever in your favour

I am a huge fan of Suzanne Collins' book, The Hunger Games {you can read my review here}. Such a fan that, when I first saw this trailer, I wasn't so sure about it. Gale and Katniss didn't look quite right to me, and I was in the mood to be nitpicky. It should also be said that I was watching on my netbook, which has a pretty teeny screen, and I think my dishwasher was running in the background at the time, making it sort of hard to hear. Basically, I didn't really give it a chance. However, a friend of mine encouraged me not to write it off so quickly. She reminded me that the author of the book wrote the screenplay, and that the actors playing Katniss and Peeta were both big fans of the book before they read the script. So, I watched it again. And I'm pleased to say that  upon second {and third and fourth and fifth} viewing, I am now beyond excited about the release of this movie in March. I got goosebumps watching this. I think you will too!



Have you read The Hunger Games? And will you be lining up to see it on the big screen like me?

J'adore

Yes. Yes, it is. And that's why I stayed out way too late last night at Bolen Books, listening to Ami McKay read aloud from her new book, The Virgin Cure. She is just lovely, and I would have happily listened to her for hours. I hung out, bought a copy, and even got her to sign it for me. Very exciting! After that, I did a little bit of Christmas shopping, wandering the aisles of books for over an hour. Let's just say, I have a feeling there will be plenty of reading material under the tree this Christmas...

Oh and by the way, I'm pretty sure I need that t-shirt. Are you listening, Santa?

richard scarry tee via style hive

Movie night

I am finally going to see The Help tonight. I absolutely loved the book {as you might recall}, and have heard so many good things about the movie. I can't wait to see it brought to life on the big screen.

Oh, and I'm looking forward to the popcorn, too.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! We're off to swimming lessons this morning and then for our adventure at the pumpkin patch. I love a day jam-packed full of fun, don't you?

image via here

Nothing gold can stay

Photos from an evening walk I took this week

There's something sort of magical about the evening light late in August, isn't there? It's got such a golden quality, and everything around seems to absorb it and then shine it outwards. I love these evenings, and am sad to watch them get shorter and shorter with each passing day. But I suppose the summer has to end sometime, doesn't it?

Okay, now I've got The Outsiders in my head. "Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold." 

Aaaaand suddenly I'm back in 8th grade English class. How did that happen?

Reading list

I'm supposed to be reading Room, by Emma Donaghue, for my bookclub next week. But the waitlist at the library is a hundred miles long, and I just can't afford to buy a new hardcover when my next paycheque is 2 and a half months away {I love summer vacation, but seriously...} For now it will have to wait. And instead I'll continue through the stack of fun, and sometimes frivolous, reads on my bedside table.  

Oh Georgia Nicholson, you crazy teenage girl, you! I read the first book in this series, Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, when I was living in London one summer. I bought it at this great little bookshop in Gipsy Hill, and I can recall sitting on a bench not far from St Paul's Cathedral, eating my lunch, reading it and laughing my head off. This is the final book in the series, and while it's pretty predictable {and very silly}, there's just something about Georgia I can't help but like. I really hope she ends up with "Dave the Laugh" at the end.

Another teen novel, I just found this one at the library the other day. Yay! I love fellow British Columbian Susan Juby's books. The spring that Dylan was born, I laid in bed and read a lot while feeding him. Miss Smithers made me laugh so hard I could hardly breathe. Alan came running to see what I was shrieking about... he thought I was having some sort of mental breakdown! I can't wait to find out how Alice's senior year of high school turns out. Must get some tissues out. Don't you love a "laugh until you cry" kind of story? {aside: I met Susan Juby once and she was very cool}.

I read The Forgotten Garden this spring, and I absolutely loved it. I found it really powerful and strange and incredibly moving. I hope The House at Riverton will be the same. I was having a hard time getting into it after my surgery, but perhaps my brain was still a bit foggy? I am determined to give it another go this summer. I like an epic, sweeping story that spans the decades. I think this one will fit the bill!

Brandi was reading Enchantment this past weekend when she was staying with us, and she finished it just in time to leave it with me as she headed back out onto the road. I'm intrigued by the premise of this book: a modern day American grad student comes across a woman sleeping in the woods and awakens her with a kiss, only to be transported back in time and into a fairy tale. It sounds completely different to anything I've read lately. I'm looking forward to getting into it soon.

Among other favourite British "chick lit" authors, Alan used to buy me Isabel Wolff books for Christmas every year. They're generally quite fun and light-hearted... perfect summer reading. I found this newest Wolff book at the library the other day as I was signing the boys up for the summer reading program, and was happy to discover that I hadn't read it yet. I like the sound of this one... "Phoebe has just opened a vintage dress shop in Blackheath... But what of the past lives these clothes have lived, she often wonders? What stories would they tell if they could speak?"

My friend Charlotte gave me this one a month or so ago, but I haven't started it yet. It's a big book, and I was just too busy with year-end stuff at school to take it on. I'm ready now though. And as it turns out, it's the book that Brandi is listening to on CD as she drives across the country. She told me I'll definitely like it, as it's sort of "Twilight for grown-ups." Excellent. I do enjoy a good vampire love story!

I think this stack of novels will get me off to a good start on my summer reading list. Have you got some good books you can recommend for me to add to my pile? I'll be sitting in my adirondack chair outside my cabana soon, the hours stretched out before me... so I'll have plenty of time to devour lots of delicious words! I can't wait.

Bedtime story with Daddy

This makes me smile.

Scenes from the weekend

The last few days of spring break were the best ones. I was finally starting to feel better {except for the pulled-muscle pain every time I cough, which is still far too often for my liking}. We got out of the house into the sunshine. A lot. Because hey... sunshine is so good for you!

Sunshine + daffodils = springtime!

Pretty purple crocuses beside the house.

Whispered giggles between Alan and the boys, after a trip to the Trick & Joke Shop.

Sawyer heads for the longhouse at the Royal BC Museum. See the cherry blossoms overhead?

Emulating the work of Emily Carr, with watercolour pencils and wet paintbrushes

An Emily Carr painting in the new exhibit

Boys and friends, enjoying the view of the harbour from the top floor of the museum.

Mom's birthday party at Goldstream Park. The menfolk lean on the fence and eat their cupcakes.

My sis and my mom, really enjoying the fudge cupcakes with cream-cheese icing. Yum!

Sawyer goes for a run by the river.

Saturday afternoon at the school playground. Dylan perfects his climbing-wall skills.

Bob blends in to the living room rug during an evening nap. 

Warm Fuzzy jars, almost full. This time we're working towards a reward of a trip to Miniature World. Or a picnic at the beach. All depends on the weather.

Tea and raspberries and a good book make for a lovely Saturday night.

It's Sunday afternoon now, grey and raining {sigh}. In a little while we're going to head over to the mall to mail a stack of letters, and to sit a while in Starbucks with some hot chocolate. After that, it's home to construct some Lego and make a big pot of broccoli soup. Should I make some baking powder biscuits to go with it, or just pick up a baguette while we're out? Decisions, decisions...

Hope you had a lovely weekend, dear friends. See you back here tomorrow for Much Love Monday?

E xo

Confession

It's true. I've been falling for the handsome {and sometimes unlikely} heroes of books, tv and film for a long, long time. Here are a few who've stolen my heart over the years.

One of my first fictional loves was Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables. He was lovely in the books {it always baffled me, how Anne took years to realize she was in love with him!}, and completely dreamy in the miniseries. I think all good Canadian girls had a thing for Gilbert.

Oh, Mr Darcy! So proud. So prejudiced. And played to perfection by Colin Firth.

Do you remember Northern Exposure? It was my favourite show in the early 90s. Sure, the main character was New Yorker Joel, but the man I loved in Cicely, Alaska, was radio DJ "Chris in the Morning" {played by the adorable John Corbett}.

Who knew how much I'd love Doctor Who? Alan convinced me to give the BBC sci-fi hit a go, and I quickly fell in love with David Tennant and his portrayal of the Tenth Doctor. He's just so fun, and joyous, and  clever. And he looks super-cute in his pin-striped suit and Converse sneakers. I wept when he left the show.

Finally... my Sawyer. You know how much I love him! LOST will always be my favourite show, and James "Sawyer" Ford will always be my TV boyfriend. Those dimples! That southern accent! Those abs! Sigh... Con-man, bookworm, lovable rogue, hero. He is my "constant." {and Alan is oh-so-jealous!}

Who are the fictional characters you've fallen in love with?

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."

Have you read The Help? You should. It is amazing. I really can't say enough good things about this book. I loved it more than anything I've read in a long time, and when I finished it, I couldn't get it out of my head. I also totally let my late fines at the public library stack up as I kept it several days past its due date {sshhh! don't tell anyone!}. I simply couldn't give it up before I got to the end, and then I wanted to hold onto it just a little bit longer. It is that good.

The Help is the story of three woman- one white, two black, in 1960s Mississippi. Privileged Skeeter Phelan is just home from university and itching to write for a newspaper, though her mother is far more interested in seeing her married off. Aibileen is the negro maid of Skeeter's friend, Elizabeth. She's practically raising Elizabeth's young daughter, but isn't allowed to use the bathroom in their house because of the colour of her skin. Minny is Aibileen's feisty best friend, out-of-work yet again for sassing her white boss, and then doing a "terrible, awful" thing in revenge. The lives of these three women become entwined as they begin a secret project together, one that scares them to death, but gives them hope for something better. What these women set out to accomplish is brave. It made me cry, it made me angry, and it made me laugh out loud. I don't think I will ever forget this book.

The review on Kathryn Stockett's website says, "In pitch-perfect voices, {she} creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women- mothers, daugthers, caregivers, friends- view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope. The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't." 

You really must read it.

* * *

I'm currently reading Garden Spells {lovely so far} and am still working my way through The Happiness Project {full of good ideas}. Next on my bookclub reading list: The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak. I'm excited about it, and dreading it at the same time {books about Nazi Germany don't usually have a happy ending, now do they?} Have you read it? What did you think? Will I be able to cope? And finally... do you have any wonderful books you'd like to recommend? After reading something that moved me like The Help did, not just any old book will do. So tell me, what book do you love? And why?

Recent reads

Since Christmas, I've been devouring books at a rapid rate, and I've especially enjoyed two of them. They're very different to one another, but share a common element~ a girl who is different in some way, and feels like she doesn't belong.

The first is The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender. It's difficult to explain this book which is marketed as "magical realism", but I'll try. Rose is a 9-year-old girl who discovers within herself an extraordinary gift, the ability to taste in food the emotions of the person who prepared it. Unfortunately, the gift is more like a curse. The prose in this story is lovely, and the descriptions are vivid, especially those of Rose's Los Angeles neighbourhood. I loved it, but found it extremely confusing too. Without giving too much away, there are other members of Rose's family with similar "talents" and as they are revealed, the story unravels a bit. I'm still not quite sure what happened to Joseph, Rose's depressed brother. It left me feeling sad, and a little bit empty {which was perhaps the author's intention}. Have you read it? I'd love to hear what you thought.

I loved Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. It was a quick read, and absolutely lovely. I read a review that described it as being "light as air, but thoroughly pleasant reading," and I have to agree. This story does have a too-good-to-be-true feel to it, but after the heaviness of Lemon Cake {and another recent read, about a woman whose 4-year-old son was struck and killed by a car~ why did I read that?!}, I was glad for it. Cecelia lives with her mentally ill mother and mostly absent father in a depressing town in Ohio, but a tragic accident changes everything and she moves to Savannah, Georgia, to live with her Aunt Tootie. I loved the descriptions of the southern town with its grand old houses, and its wildly eccentric, strong female characters. I must admit that the problems that arise in the book are dealt with a little too quickly and then the plot moves on, but again, I didn't mind. Sometimes I don't want to struggle too much with a book. I just want to sit back and enjoy it. With this book, I certainly did. I cried and I laughed a lot. "It is truthful in its ugliness, but believable in its premise that life holds a plethora of promise," wrote an Amazon reviewer, and I tend to agree. But then, I love me a happy ending. I also think it would make a great movie. Have you read it? And if so, what did you think of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt?

Currently on my bedside table, and both very, very good so far... The Help by Kathryn Stockett and the children's novel Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan. Do you know them?

With stacks of good books to read,  no wonder I'm having a hard time sticking to that early bedtime resolution!

"My test of a good novel is dreading to begin the last chapter."

Who knew that's how I would feel about The Hunger Games? Certainly not me. I bought it reluctantly for my school library, after hearing all sorts of talk about it and thinking to myself "I guess I'd really better get a copy." I knew it was popular with the teenagers, that it was a critically aclaimed New York Times' bestseller, and {here's the bit that didn't appeal to me} that it took place in a futuristic and totalitarian society that was once North America. Umm, yeah, no thanks. That sort of genre is really not my thing. Oh, I like science fiction well enough {you know how I feel about LOST and Dr Who!}, but "the future is bleak" books like 1984 and The Handmaid's Tale really turn me off. But all that aside, I made the decision to buy the book and, like I usually do, to read it before putting it into circulation. And I'm so glad I did.

It was amazing! I took it with me to the gym one Friday night, climbed on the elliptical, and started reading while I worked out. Next thing I knew, the gym was closing, I'd burned 600 calories, and I was well into one amazing novel that had made me gasp out loud and cry in the first 100 pages.

The Hunger Games takes place in the distant future, in the country of Panem, on the ruins of what was once North America. Panem is divided into 12 districts, each one poorer and hungrier than the last. In the centre of Panem lies the glittering Capitol, where food and money are abundant, and where the rules are written. Each year, the Capitol holds something called The Hunger Games. Each district must send two tributes, children between the ages of 12 and 18, to participate. They are all put into an arena and must fight to the death. Only one tribute can win the games and emerge from the arena alive. This year, Katniss Everdeen is one of those tributes. And the games will never, ever be the same.

Read it. It's crazy good. Dark and disturbing and powerful. The sequels are pretty awesome too {though I must confess to loving the first book the best}. And you don't have to be a teenager to think so. Believe me. I haven't been a teen in a very long time...

More reviews tomorrow. Right now I'm making crepe batter. Apparently it's Pancake Day in France. So I'm living vicariously through Em, and making us a delicious dinner of crepes and salad {you know, to create a healthy balance!} Delicieux...

Much Love Monday {books, etc.}

via flickr

Good morning and happy Monday! I'm looking forward to a really great week, full of books and reading and learning and fun! Here's what I'm loving about today, and the week ahead:

• I won Megan's giveaway (can't wait for my Paris prints to arrive!)- hooray! Ooh, and I won Nikki's new Finding LOST book, because my photos were so hilarious... (she said it, not me!) Yippeee!!!
• I'm going to my favourite little bookstore downtown on Thursday night for a special teachers' evening (am totally going to spend hundreds and hundreds of someone else's dollars on new books for the library! and I'm going to treat myself to tea at Murchies, too, since it is right next door...)
• Friday is professional day, which means I'm off to a conference about reading and writing for kids in grades K-2 (Dylan's teacher, my good friend Nerine, is coming with me, and we are definitely going for a pumpkin spice latte at the end of the day!)
• Am just about to borrow our newest book club selection, This is Where I Leave You. Am really enjoying being in a book club and finding new books I might not have picked up otherwise... (oh, and I also quite like going out in the evening once a month, drinking wine and chatting with a group of girls!) Am just finishing up The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and picked up a copy of The House at Riverton (for free!), too. Reading up a storm these days!
• Meal Plan Monday continues to be a huge success and is totally keeping me on track with making healthy, delicious dinners every night of the week. This week's meals include spaghetti and tossed salad, Mexican chicken, spinach & feta pizzas, butternut squash soup (I love my new soup cookbook!), Jamie's red thai curry (I'm doing chicken instead of prawns) with jasmine rice, and everybody's favourite... pancakes! (this is the boys' pick- they think having breakfast for dinner is awesome)
• The Inbetweeners is on tonight. I'll watch it with Alan when I get home from the gym. Will probably laugh our heads off...
• Making lists like this helps me to appreciate all the little (and wonderful) things about my life

How about you? Are you loving all sorts of little things this Monday? I'd love to hear about it, and if you want to write a post of your own to share the love, you can leave a link on Much Love Anna as well...

Why I love Jamie Oliver

So not only is he cute, British, and single-handedly attempting to change the eating habits of children in the western world, but now he's helping me to make tasty dinners in under 30 minutes! Alan and I watched an episode of Jamie's 30 Minute Meals last night, and I am absolutely going to make the smashed potato with lemon, cilantro and feta for dinner tonight. Mmmmm! I loved the show, and now I'm putting the cookbook on my wishlist (are you reading this, Santa?) According to Jamie's website, "this book is as practical as it is beautiful, showing that with a bit of preparation, the right equipment and some organization, hearty, delicious, quick meals are less than half an hour away."

Seriously? Sign me up.