Bibliofile - October

I read eight books in October bringing the year's total to eighty-four. I started the month with a book about Canadian politics by respected journalist Chantal Hebert called The Morning After. It's a fascinating look at the 1995 Quebec referendum and how no one really had any long-term plans respecting what would happen should the Yes forces win, including the Yes forces. For a political junkie like myself I found it a fascinating read.

Next up was the hilarious sequel to The Rosie Project, The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion. I recommend the first and the sequel to anyone looking for a good laugh-out-loud read.

The month didn't pass without a music industry book. This time it was Something So Strong by Chris Bourke, an extensive, thousand page plus look at Australia's Crowded House. Of course, as is usually the case with these books, reading this one lead to a buying spree on Amazon with two Split Enz CDs - a precursor to Crowded House - A Crowded House CD, and a Tim Finn CD, an on-again, off-again member of Crowded House and older brother to creative genius Neil. I've gotta stop reading these books. This book was interesting. I've always liked Crowded House. But it was a tad on the long side.

I closed out the month with James Dashner's The Maze series, a young adult trilogy that you'd like if you enjoyed The Hunger Games or His Dark Materials. I liked it, although I felt a tad let down by the third volume and the ending. Overall though it was a good read.

In between I read another Elvis Cole novel this time featuring his partner Joe Pike and The Humans where an alien takes over the body of a mathematics professor from Cambridge to hilarious consequences. My Hematologist, who knows I read a lot, recommended this to me on my last visit. I'm glad he did.

Here's all the books I read in October:

The Morning After - Chantal Hebert ****
The Rosie Effect - Graeme Simsion
The First Rule (Elvis Cole #13) - Robert Crais ****
Something So Strong - Chris Bourke ****
The Humans - Matt Haig ****
The Maze Runner (Book 1) - James Dashner ****
The Scorch Trials (Maze Runner Book 2) - James Dashner ****
Death Cure (Maze Runner Book 3) - James Dashner ***

That was my month between the covers. How about you?

My Back Pages - October

Well, folks, I read seven (count 'em) seven books in October. One I didn't finish but even at that I hit the magic number 50 I estimated for myself by the end of the year. The six books I successfully waded through were, firstly, What Happened, Hillary Clinton's book on her bid for the Presidency. I''m a bit of a political junkie so I get off on this stuff but still it kinda struck me as one long whine over losing. Next up was the excellent Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and Music of Laurel Canyon. Laurel Canyon was the fabled area outside of Los Angeles where many musicians and artists lived. Known as a 60s enclave, the book takes a look at just who lived there over the last 80 years. A fascinating read. Next up was Lightfoot, a biography of Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot. He may have been responsible for some iconic folk songs but he was also quite the womanizer and boozer. Enough said. Then I read Dan Brown's new tome Origin, the fifth ...

The Polka Dot Door

A long time ago, when I was 22, my first child was born. That kid grew up on a little Canadian kid's show called Polka Dot Door, produced by the TV Ontario network. And Dad, more often than not, sat through those shows with his little one. Nine or so years later when a brother, and a year after that when a sister came along number one son was moving on to Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard. But there was a nice overlap where his siblings picked up where he had left off with Polka Dot Door. And Dad was right there to welcome them. So you're looking at a Polka Dot Door veteran. The show began in 1971 and ran to 1993. I didn't watch the full run but I did get in my fair share. The formula was pretty simple. A young male and female host, which seemed to change every week, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and generally did their best stimulate little brains. The show opened as follows... Imagination Day! Oh boy! ...

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.

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