Dropped Threads  -edited by Carol Shields and Marjorie Anderson  pub. by Random House 2001
An anthology of stories on the subject of "what we aren't told" about life and the experience of being a woman.  I received it as a gift for my birthday, picked it up one night and could not put it down.  You feel like you are receiving some privileged information from women who have "been there".  It was akin to that inspiring dialogue that usually happens over the washing of dishes.  Female intimacy at it's best.  Surprising confessions, shocking revelations, painful divulgences, all given freely and lovingly.

The Backwoods of Canada  -Catherine Parr Traill  pub. by McClelland and Stewart 1989
An amazing journal/letters of an early pioneer of Canada, sister of Susanna Moodie.  They both left the comforts of genteel English society for the rigors of the Canadian bush country.

Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam  - M.C. Beaton  pub. by St. Martins 2000
I got this one free at Book Expo, a fluffy, formulaic mystery set around the Cotswolds in England.  Give me descriptions of the English countryside, pubs,  and tea rituals any day.  I'm in heaven.  Reminds me of Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, or Trixie Belden, all the the greats of my adolescence.

Recently Read...

No Great Mischief  -Alistar MacLeod  pub. McClelland and Stewart 1999
His first novel in ten years.  In this one he writes about the underlying myths in families.  The descriptions of men being lost on the ice are particularly haunting.  It moves from past to present quite seamlessly.  One of Canda's great writers.

Hundreds and Thousands:  The Journals of an Artist   - Emily Carr  pub. Irwin 1966
Re-read this one in preparation for my Emily Carr pilgrimage in Victoria.  I was so grateful to be able to see the original manuscript at the Museum there.  There was also an incredible installation of her caravan, (the "grey elephant"), complete with a recreation of all of her camping and painting gear.  I fell in love with the whole idea of portable house in the woods, I'm now looking for a tiny camper to travel around in.  This is one of my favourite reads ever.  I also visited her birth house and the House of All Sorts, very charming.

Martin Sloane  - Michael Redhill  pub. Doubleday 2001
Michael is an old acquaintance of mine, he actually bought one of my sculptures.  I met him when he was a struggling poet in Toronto, so I was completely elated when I heard him interviewed on CBC about his new novel.  I rushed out to buy it.  When experiencing any creative endeavor of someone I am friends with (or know), I spend most of the early pages picturing them at a desk working, struggling, hearing their own voice reading the text or even acting as one of the characters.  I obsessively wonder where the experiences came from, who are they talking about?  It's as if having a physical experience of someone blocks my ability to see the story for what it is.  But then, somewhere into chapter 2, the characters take over and their own lives somehow remove the creator.  Soon I forget where they came from and allow them to exist on their own.  Occasionally a casual glance at the cover reminds me of their origins, (a brief flash of the author going to a local cafe to work through a bumpy scene.)  But the characters have already staked their lives into my own experience and easily take over again.  This is the sign of great writing to me, the ability to get completely lost.  I'm sure it must be similar to creating them, letting them determine the direction of the story.  I was completely enchanted by some descriptions of the main character's art pieces:
"there was one little hole, that if you looked in it, you could see in the middle a tiny doll wearing a crown."  "...a tiny doll the size of a thumb, papery wings on her back, sitting alone with a crown on her head in the middle of the hive."  I want to make this object.  The novel is inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell.  A definate page turner.  Congratulations Michael!

Lying Awake  -Mark Salzman  pub. Knopf 2000
A friend of mine dropped off a wonderful review of this book in New Yorker Magazine.  In it Mark Salzman describes how he wanted to become a concert cellist until one day when he went to see Yo Yo Ma perform.  He immediately quit and took up writing.  Which is good for me because I rushed out to buy the book plus a c.d. of Yo Yo Ma.  Both were excellent!  Before I read this book I had intensely romantic notions about the life of nuns, simple living at it's finest.  I learned it is much more complicated than it seems.  This book poses some huge spiritual questions, in an unbiased manner.  When I finished the last page I wanted to start again at the beginning.  I felt I had just gotten to know Sister John, and didn't want our relationship to end.  A short novel, with immense depth.