The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery

This story is set in Paris but could have been set anywhere in the world and it would still resonate. The truth of the characters makes it an engrossing read.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an interesting and informative read. I never knew about HeLa cells, where they originated and how they were obtained. Read this book if you are interested in history and are looking for a book that tells a story as well as makes you think.

That Summer in Paris - Morley Callaghan

A book of anecdotes about his start as a writer and his associations with such writers as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald.  From Toronto to Paris and, in the end, back again.

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guider to the Art of Long-Term World Travel - Rolf Potts

I've been on a big self improvement and finding my bliss kick for the last few weeks.  Actually for the last few months.  And to aid in that in came "Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel" by Rolf Potts.  I know this isn't fiction but it is very good nonetheless.  Makes you want to get off your butt and do things.  Makes you want to sell everything and head off into the unknown where things may not always be comfortable and easy but they sure aren't boring.  Except possibly if you spend your entire travel in various hotel rooms.  That he does not recommend.  Apparently vagabonding isn't for everyone but even so, this book provides some insight on how you can live with a vagabond attitude even if you never leave your home town.

Moll Flanders - Daniel Defoe

I finished reading Moll Flanders a few evenings ago.  Well.  I sort of read it.  I found myself continuously skimming pages and not really taking things in.  The main thread throughout the book was her financial situation and her appearance.  I could not make myself care about her.  And I kept wondering...what about her children?  Where did she leave her children?

Perhaps I just was not in the right mood to read it.  It is now on my 'to revisit' shelf.

 

The Dog Who Wouldn't Be - Farley Mowat

I just finished re-reading 'The Dog Who Wouldn't Be' by Farley Mowat.



This is a wonderful feel good book.  I've read it before and I fully expect to read it again.  If I had a child this would be on the top of the list for bedtime reading.  It is a book for the young and young at heart. 

I read it curled up in bed with my own dog who will not be.  Laughing out loud at the funny parts, and there are many, I was transported into a beautiful, uncomplicated world of a boy, a family and a dog.  It was the perfect antidote to the dire news that makes its way into my consciousness through the newspapers and internet news sites I peruse daily.

It is good to remember that there is a place like Saskatchewan.  Where you can dig your toes in the earth and feel the wind blowing freely, ruffling your hair and the long grasses in treeless plains.  Where perhaps your own beloved dog can run freely, chasing a gopher or rabbit over those endless plains.

Bird Talk - Aileen Fisher

When I was a child, this was one of my favourite poems.

Bird Talk

“Think…,” said the robin,
“Think…,” said the jay,
sitting in the garden,
talking one day.

“Think about people-
the way they grow;
they don’t have feathers
at all, you know.

“They don’t eat beetles,
they don’t grow wings,
they don’t like sitting
on wires and things.”

“Think!” said the robin.
“Think!” said the jay.
“Aren’t people funny

to be that way?”

...by Aileen Fisher

I couldn't find where and when this was published but I did find this collection of Aileen Fisher poems on Amazon.  If I find the one that includes the 'Bird Talk' poem I will post it here as well.