This page will be updated occasionally – it features some of my favourites, as well as stuff I’m currently reading. I got myself a Kobo Vox during the 2011 boxing week sales; it’s an eReader with WiFi capabilities and, while I’m enjoying it – it’s great for travelling – it occurred to me that I won’t be able to loan books to friends. Most of my books are of the soft cover paper variety.
Favourites
- Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
- Fruit (Brian Francis)
- The Golden Mean (Annabel Lyon)
- The entire Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling)
- I Wish That I Had Duck Feet (Dr. Seuss)
- Oranges are Not the Only Fruit (Jeanette Winterson)
- The Passion (Jeanette Winterson)
- The People of the Book (Geraldine Brooks)
- Possession (A.Y. Byatt)
- Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith)
- The Queen’s Fool (part of the Tudor series by Philippa Gregory)
- Smoke (Elizabeth Ruth – and pretty much anything she writes)
- Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary (David Sedaris – and pretty much anything he writes)
- Tipping the Velvet (Sarah Waters)
- Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen)
Recent reads:
- I Feel Bad About My Neck (Nora Ephron)
- Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea (Chelsea Handler)
- Divine Cockeyed Genius (Vanessa McGowan)
Here’s a great G&M article by Russell Smith, featuring a vid by Stephen Fry, on language. I think it’s bloody brilliant! http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/russell-smith/stephen-fry-takes-on-the-language-pedants/article2034487/
Having said that, I do believe that there’s a happy medium – between clarity/correctness and creativity/passion in language – somewhere between Lynne Truss and Stephen Fry.
For info on the origin/meaning of words/phrases, I like The Word Detective: http://www.word-detective.com/
I’m also a huge fan of cultural/national/regional colloquialisms – and have adopted some (and I wonder if this is just me or if it’s a Canadian thing). Here are some of my favourites:
- Bob’s your uncle (UK)
- Buddy (Atlantic Canada)
- Don’t cha know (MN & ND, USA)
- Cheers (UK)
- Mangia-cake (Italian-Canadian/American)
- No worries (Australia, I think)
- Schlep (Yiddish)
- Y’all [singular] and All y’all [plural] (Southern USA) – thanks to @Torontomusicman for pointing out the distinction
Saw this in my NOW Magazine horoscope for the week of Nov 24, 2011 (I’m a Gemini, as well as a hopeful romantic):
When I see your face, the stones start spinning. Water turns pearly. Fire dies down and doesn’t destroy. In your presence I don’t want what I thought I wanted. – the poet Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
