The Voice Of Reason

Gosh, been awhile since I updated my reading list. I guess I will do that just to finish off the 2017 books read before I start on 2018. Still participating in the Goodreads group CAnadianContent where there will be another Bingo reading challenge this year as well as a year long Read Across Canada challenge. I'm definitely going to participate in the Bingo challenge and give the cross Canada one a good try. At least for the provinces that have fewer choices, it means I find books or authors that are new or that I haven't read before and i discovered after this year's challenge, there can be some real hidden gems. I am glad I'm reading across Canada, one for each of 10 provinces and 3 territories and not the USA! I think if you were going to challenge yourself to Read Across America, you'd want to choose a state from each coast, and north and south borders, Alaska and Hawaii and then choose another 6 or 8 states from across the map. Or you could find a train route from the east coast to the west and follow that on the map, choosing the states that way. Anyway, I'm focussing on Canadian Lit and it's a lot more straight forward.

So, yes, 2017 books, the last of them behind the link
( 2017 books )

And that's it. I read 100 books in 2017. I find i read a lot more now since I have my ereader. It's so easy to carry around with me and read anywhere. I can also read on my phone via the Kobo or Kindle apps or Overdrive for library books. I do have a stack of about 8 paper books on my bedside table and another 4 or 5 books that I've borrowed from a cousin that I really need to read through and get back to her. G. gave me the hardcover edition of the new Ken Follett for Christmas and I'm looking forward to getting into that as well. With paper books, I keep them for my bedtime reading rather than carrying them around with me.

I've already started my 2018 book list, finishing one yesterday that I had been reading.

The Clockwork Dynasty - Daniel H. Wilson
sort of Steampunk but maybe leaning more towards scifi since it really doesn't take place during the Victorian era. It had some inconsistencies but overall not bad. The Avtomats were far more interesting than the present day human character.

Vacation! (or nearly there, just the day to get through).
Lovely pedicure yesterday. I really have to do that more often! I do plan to get it done again before we go out west/Hawaii in November. I don't plan on doing any swimming but I might want to wear sandals with a skirt if we go out somewhere nice for dinner.
Didn't sleep well last night, in addition to having a sore hip periodically, I was too warm even with the ceiling fan on. You just can't win. It's going to be a long day today.

And just to catch up on books since I don't know what kind of time I'll have for reading over the next two weeks. This lot of books were all top marks for the most part or almost. I really enjoyed all of them for various reasons as they were mostly quite different from each other.
( 2017 books )
I'm currently reading several books, each by classic Canadian authors and a Jane Austen. I think I'll try to read all of her books. Not by the end of the year but over the coming months at least.

Have developed a chesty cough. Crap. Was up most of the night though I have to say, the desperate act of using Vicks rub on my chest does help. Horrible Buckley's cough mixture does too. Tip: It works, it tastes disgusting, kind of like liquid eucalyptus, keep it in the refrigerator and you can get it down. At room temperature, your stomach may rebel. My dad called it Fuckleys. He was right.

Time for the monthly book catch up beneath the cut
( 2017 books )

My tiny great niece is doing well. My niece is busy helping at the neonatal unit, working on pumping milk and helping to look after baby. She's so tiny, like a baby doll! I haven't met her yet but my niece is a bit overwhelmed and quite busy so I'm going to wait and go over after work this week instead. My mother got to go yesterday and was emotional with it. They've called her Bree Alisson. Alisson is daddy Alex's sister and she's thrilled at being name checked. Bree has dark hair, too which her daddy has. If it stays dark. They put little knitted hats on her that look far too big and her diaper, even though it's for preemies, looks enormous!

My sister is over the moon with joy and it's so wonderful to see her so happy. Not that she isnt normally a cheerful person but life has its ups and downs, it's worries and stresses but having a grandchild is such a special gift.

Catch up for books
( 2017 books )

Quite a few books to catch up on. Finished three today! I usually read 3 or 4 at one time so I end up finishing a few within a day or so of each other. Then it will be another week or more before the next lot near their end. It just happend that two of the books were about the same length and the third was a volume of poetry.
( 2017 books )
I think if i'm going to read something out of my usual, I'll stick with short stories or I'll go back to old fashioned classic poetry that rhymes! ;)

Quick book catch up
( 2017 books )

A well known UK actor has died and then we've lost Mary Tyler Moore. Both actors were aged. People are already moaning about this being a repeat of 2016 when we lost an inordinate number of famous people. Time will tell but when someone is over 75 you aren't as surprised or shocked to hear they've died. With the population getting older, so many baby boomers and more reaching 70 and over, it's inevitable that there will be more and more. It's the younger ones that shock you, that leave you reeling. Even someone in their 60s like Bowie, Fisher and Rickman is young these days. As I get close to 60, as well, these people are more or less my contemporaries. I've already lost 2 or 3 people my age over the past 10 years. My good friend and coworker Carole died nearly 10 years ago and we lost another coworker a  year or so later. He was also in his 50s like she was. My cousin Eddie died at the age of 50, a year older than me at the time. You expect you will see people your parents' age go, and indeed the parents of a lot of my friends and what remaining aunts and uncles I have are in their 70s and 80s and the health of a number of them is visibly failing. People my age, late 50s, they're having more health problems, too. It's inevitable, I guess but it's scary too.

When I was 20, i had a grandmother in her early 60s though my other grandmother was 20 years older. Both seemed a remote age but now I'm almost caught up with the younger of the two. I don't mind admitting how old I am. What bothers me is how long ago everything seemed to happen. I certainly don't "feel" this age. What's that supposed to feel like anyway? Do I act my age? I don't think I act the way my parents, aunts and uncles did at this age. They were more serious, responsible, (notwithstanding their senses of humour of course), But then they had harder lives, raised kids (often quite a few). But I"m also looking at them from the perspective of a much younger person than they were.

You know them as  your parents, but did I know them as people? They didn't confide in me as to their dreams, worries and hopes, not then. I saw one side of them but there were other sides they only showed to each other or their peers. I know that now. Maybe they felt the same way about life as I do now. I do realize that, not having raised children, I don't have that sort of responsible side to me. Raising children certainly would change you and add sides to your personality that I will never have. Nobody depended on me in that way. I didn't have someone to protect with my life in that way that you do with your children.

Anyway. I didn't mean to get all philosophical here.

Still book blogging, still enjoying it. I see topics all the time that inspire me to write. I hope people don't think I'm just copying ideas! I've been posting fairly frequently so far but I know that will ease back once the novelty wears off. I don't post as much to the travel blog lately but that's because I hadn't been traveling or planning a trip. Now we are gearing up for our visit to the west coast in November and trip to Hawaii. I booked our flights to Vancouver using Aeroplan points and I had to do it in business class. There wasn't really anything available for coach class for the dates or even close to the dates were needed. Luckily I had more points than I needed even for business class though I had hoped to be able to fit two free trips in.  Doesn't matter. Points add up and I'll get there eventually for something else. Traveling in business class for that distance is very comfortable. Even managed it for all the flights. Sometimes you get BC for the flight to Toronto and coach the rest of the way due to availability but they still charge you the whole amount of points for BC even if you only use it on some of the flights. I wouldn't waste them if that was the case. But I got lucky with the availability and we're going BC on both flights out and back, and the return from Vancouver to Toronto is an overnight flight so that will be very nice! Flying BC also allows us to use the Maple Leaf lounges in the airports, much nicer atmosphere to wait between flights nad there is enough time to take advantage.

My friend's husband offered to get the Hawaii flights through his connections so I"ve sent him the details. If he can still do it, then we will know the exact dates for Victoria and Vancouver and can go ahead and decide on hotels etc. Don't need a hotel in Victoria, We'll be staying with my aunt and uncle there at least. Might get to stay overnight with a cousin in Vancouver as well. Don't like to invite ourselves but if she offers, we'll take a night there as well. That means I can start looking at potential hotels for Vancouver and Honolulu and planning things to do! Yay!

Time to start the annual book list. I'm going to link to the reviews on the new book blog instead of Goodreads this year.
( 2017 books )