Just Living

May 22, 2017

Meredith Egan. Just Living: A Novel. Amity, 2016.

Found this on the "local writers" shelf at The Bookman. I love CanLit and I love local, and this book kept me reading right to the end (450 pages). Becoming-priest Beth Hill has finished her coursework and requires only a practicum before being ordained. The opportunity to work in a halfway house north of Mission helps her decide what kind of future she wants.

Brida

May 14, 2017

Paulo Coelho. Brida. Harper, 2008.

A young Irish woman, Brida, goes to a teacher, Wicca, and a Magus, to be initiated into an ancient tradition. Translated from the Portuguese. 

A Walk In the Woods

May 11, 2017

Bill Bryson. A Walk In the Woods: Rediscovering America On the Appalachian Trail. Anchor Canada, 2015 / 1997.

I enjoyed the movie, and I know Bryson has many fans, so when this copy showed up at a local thrift store, I pounced. And I am not disappointed. Knowing someone who has walked the trail helped me feel as if I was there with the hikers, and wondering as they do, why people choose to do this. The joys of walking. The related tangents--history, geology, crime, flora, fauna, personal relationships. Environmental degradation and commercialism. And humour. 

San Francisco Blues

May 1, 2017

Jack Kerouac. San Francisco Blues. Penguin, 1954, 1995.

Interesting. Never published during his lifetime. Poetry as jazz.