Spotted today after work:

I love seeing the horses walking around downtown.

I also absolutely love hearing the sound of their hooves on the pavement!

I have a confession, I can’t finish these books! I am just not feeling into them. I normally don’t read more than one book at a time, but I couldn’t get into one, so I put it down and started another, and one thing led to another… and I have four novels on the go right now. I think it is easier to throw in the towel and say why I couldn’t finish these, than force myself to finish them just to post a review.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today is UNESCO’s International Day of the Book (now called World Book and Copyright Day). It is also Canada Book Day, which means we have tons of literary events going on right now to celebrate Canada Book Week. Canada Book Day is organized by the Writers’ Trust of Canada, a national organization whose mandate is to represent writers and support Canadian English-language literature.

The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George’s Day, it has been tradition since the medieval era for men to give roses to their lovers and since 1925 for the woman to give a book in exchange. Also on April 23, 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. However, there is some debate because the Gregorian calendar was used in Spain and the Julian calendar was still being used in England, so Shakespeare actually died ten days after Cervantes. “It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo,” according to UNESCO’s website Quite the literary history behind this one day!

Some events in my radar include:

• BC Book & Magazine Week: Put together by the BC Association of Magazine Publishers  (BCAMP) and the Association of Book Publishers of BC (ABPBC), April 18-25th is BC Book and Magazine Week. Featuring events all around the Province of BC, we celebrate books, magazines, and the writers and publishers that bring them to us!
• BC Book Prizes: The Soiree was on April 18th, kicking off BC Book and Magazine week, this week and last week we have authors touring Northern and Southern BC, and Saturday is the 25th annual Gala, where we announce the winners and honour Terry Glavin for receiving the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. (erm… no self-promotion here! hahah can you tell I know my work ‘schpeel?)
• North Shore Writers Festival: April 18-25th, 2009. Celebrating BC writers, organized by the North Shore Public Libraries.
• London Book Fair: occured from Monday, April 20 to Wednesday, April 22.
• LA Festival of the Book: This weekend, April 25 and 26th.
• April is National Poetry Month!
• Manitoba Book Awards: the winners will be announced April25th, 2009
• National Magazine Awards announced the finalists yesterday, April 22, 2009
• Canadian Booksellers Association announces the Shortlist for the 2009 Libris Awards

Let me know if you have any others that I missed!

I have a few things I’d like to start doing once I move out, but I need some suggestions/advice:

1. Composting. We have a compost bin in the backyard in my new apartment, and my landlord has said that it would be fine for me to send the other tenants (3 other suites) a one-pager about composting… but I admit, I’m a compost virgin. What do I need to know?
2. I want to eat organic/local/pesticide-free produce. Any or all of those options. Is it more expensive? Is it more difficult to eat organic? I’ve heard of local 100-mile diets, and would love to be able to cut back on the transport costs (and polution) that my food contributes towards the world. Any suggestions?
3. I plan to start a windowsill herb garden. I have had a herb planter box before (outdoors), but as you can see from the photos, my cat loves to eat bamboo and grass. I like having basic, chives, and oregano. Will my cat just learn not to eat it once he discovers it tastes bad? Also, if the planter box is indoors, does that alter what herbs will grow well?

Any other suggestions or advice you have for easy Earth-friendly living would be great. I hope to find something that works with my time (low comittment) and wallet (little-to-no additional cost).

I may or may not have an unhealthy fascination with the Tudor period of English history. I find reading about the life and wifes of Henry VIII quite compelling, and watching Johnathan Rhys Meyers get angry… y-uuummmy! So because I adore it so much, I have been trying to pace myself while reading the Tudor Series by Philippa Gregory, and watching The Tudors by Showtime (thank you Marina!)

I have been trying to read Philippa Gregory’s Tudor Series in chronological order, which is proving to be difficult because she didn’t write them chronologically. I read The Other Boleyn Girl first, so when I finished The Constant Princess in January, I almost wanted to read The Other Boleyn Girl again. Alas, I had lent the book out (still can’t figure out who has it — probably my sister though)… so I started the third book (chronologically), The Boleyn Inheritance.

Read the rest of this entry »