My goodness! It's mid-March already. CanadaReads has come and mostly gone for 2011. After my dismay with the process this year, I decided to explore more of the 'alternative' Canadian book lists.
Among my wanderings on-line, I found a mention of a review article, "Criminous Minds: A new wave of crime writers are exploring the darkest corners of Canadian society" by Richard Poplak, in the March 2011 issue of The Walrus (now on-line). I bought the magazine and read this. Most of the books he mentions I've read, but not Breaking Lorca by Giles Blunt. I knew I'd looked at it, but since it was clearly not a 'mystery', I'd passed it up. Since I happened to be at Vancouver Public Library (VPL) in downtown Vancouver the next day, and a copy happened to be on the shelf, I took it home to read. This should teach me not to pay too much attention to descriptions (and genres). This is a haunting novel - and even a psychological mystery. I've been thinking about some of its characters ever since.
I recommend Poplak's article if you are interested in learning more about Canadian 'mystery' authors. You might also keep an eye on the Crime Writers of Canada website and on the Mystery Maven Canada blog too. The Mystery Maven is Linda Wike, former owner of Ottawa's Prime Crime Mystery Books and now a mystery author herself.
Among the other mysteries I picked up at VPL was Urn Burial, another quirky, and often outrageous, 1920s Phryne Fisher mystery novel by Kerry Greenwood set in Australia. Yes, the urns were cremation urns! And such great quotes were included - at least from a genealogist's point of view.
Another book I've just finished from VPL was Witches' Rings by Kerstin Ekman (translated from Swedish by Linda Schenck). Ekman is now probably best known here in Canada as the author of Blackwater, a mystery, but Witches' Rings is the first of four novels about Swedish life, mainly from the point of view of women, from the 1870s on. Grand read! I can't wait to read the rest, but since I don't read Swedish, I must read the English versions. And VPL seems only to have one more - at least it's the second book. I'll haunt Abebooks.com for the others. Thank you to the VPL librarian who set Witches Rings out on the Main Floor display shelves recently.
And on another genres altogether:
On one of my forays this month into a 'big box' store, I noticed a recommendation by a staff member for Canadian author Elizabeth Smart's By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, first published in 1945, which I read in the '60s. I was, I must admit, somewhat amazed to see it on
the shelf again. Ah, unbridled love, could we live without it at least once? Couldn't stop smiling!
What did I buy that day though? Elizabeth Moon's Oath of Fealty, now in paperback. We've waited what, 20 years?, for this. (If you're new to her writing, be sure to read The Deed of Paksenarrion, a trilogy, first.)
And the other day? All on sale - I Want Candy by Kim Wong Keltner, The Underside of Stones by George Szanto (I've already read his novel, The Condesa of M.) and Cory Doctorow's Makers. More about those another time.
eicuthbertson's Book Blog - Thoughts on reading, on books or articles or the occasional poem I'm reading, and some shameless promotion of BookCrossing activities! as well as of the authors, books, bookstores, and libraries that I love.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
What People Were Reading - Vancouver Public Library - 1903
From time to time, as I troll through historical newspapers looking for births, marriages, obituaries, and other important notes, I see articles about libraries, both private and public.
An issue I looked at the other day had both an ad for a private library and an article about Vancouver's Public Library, since the Annual Report was being presented to the Vancouver City Council.
The private lending library was at the Thomson Stationery Co., on Hastings Street.
Private lending libraries could be much different than public libraries though. Much of the time, as now, the articles about public libraries concern funding, but sometimes even a civic report gives us an idea about what people were reading, as does this published piece about the Vancouver City's Annual Public Library Report for 1903.
The Library's collection is said to total over 8,000 books, and 130 daily, weekly or monthly papers and magazines are available in the reading rooms.
On average, 275 books were taken out every day, with Saturday being the biggest day for circulation. The article reported that on the previous Saturday, 400 books were returned and taken out - the staff handling thus 800 books. [And there were no computers then, remember, no self check-out machines or on-line renewals. A hand for those librarians, please!]
Of the newspapers and magazines, these were:
Dailies - Canadian, 11; American, 5; total, 16.
Weeklies - Canadian, 11; English, 30; Australian and South African, 6; American, 25; total, 54.
Monthlies - Canadian, 4; English, 30; American 25; total, 59.
Being of a pedantic mind, I think it's interesting to look at the general topics covered in the collection, given as of January 1902.
Theology - 223
Social and Political Economy - 385
History and Allied Subjects - 680
Biography - 526
Geography - 21
Voyages and Travels - 304
Astronomy, Geology, etc. - 117
Mettallurgy and Mineralogy - 121
Natural History, etc. - 301
Poetry and Drama - 198
Miscellaneous - 383 [!?]
Fiction - 3324
Fiction in paper covers - 17
Magazines - 278
Being repaired, etc. - 208
In reference library - 210
And lest you think all these materials would be in English, the article mentions books purchased since January 1902:
French misc. works - 168
French magazines - 100
German misc. works - 118
Miscellanous - 400
History and biography, I am happy to see, were a significant proportion of the collection.
And metallurgy and mineralogy - what was in that section? I remember when my father and his friend decided to start panning for gold in the 1940s, the first place Dad went was to the library. Maybe it was so in 1903 too.
From The Province, Vancouver, BC, Wednesday, 7 January 1903, page 2.
An issue I looked at the other day had both an ad for a private library and an article about Vancouver's Public Library, since the Annual Report was being presented to the Vancouver City Council.
The private lending library was at the Thomson Stationery Co., on Hastings Street.
Reading a Book
is not the only way to secure pleasure any [and?] enjoyment during the long winter evenings, but it is a most delightful and a most profitable way, and it's a very inexpensive way, too, if you'll join our
LENDING LIBRARY.
Members read the new books at a cost of 20c each only.
How many of these have stood the test of time, I wonder. Gertrude Atherton [Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton] was, I know, a popular USian author in her time. Occasionally her works were controversial. What did Vancouverites think of those? Did the libraries offer them?
I just checked Vancouver Public Library's current catalogue and three of her books are listed - two are 'electronic resources' - Resanov and The Sacrificial Altar, but VPL does have a copy of her California, An Intimate History (1914). Not to worry, many of her books, including those mentioned just above are available for free on the 'Net. [Someone should tell VPL that, eh?] There's even a Facebook page for Gertrude Atherton. Give her a 'like'.
is not the only way to secure pleasure any [and?] enjoyment during the long winter evenings, but it is a most delightful and a most profitable way, and it's a very inexpensive way, too, if you'll join our
LENDING LIBRARY.
Members read the new books at a cost of 20c each only.
New books listed:
Fuel of Fire by Ellen T. Fowler, The Aristocrats by Gertrude Atherton, Scarlet and Hyssop by E. F. Henson, Key Notes by George Egerton, The Dissemblers by Thomas Cobb, Unofficial by the Hon. Mrs. Walter Forbes, The Terror by Felix Gray, A Year of Life by W.S. Lilly, Galloping Dick by H.B.M. Wilson, The Blazed Trail by White, Sport in the Navy and Naval Yarns [no author shown] and Sir Hector by Robert Machray. Each was listed for sale at 75 cents.
Fuel of Fire by Ellen T. Fowler, The Aristocrats by Gertrude Atherton, Scarlet and Hyssop by E. F. Henson, Key Notes by George Egerton, The Dissemblers by Thomas Cobb, Unofficial by the Hon. Mrs. Walter Forbes, The Terror by Felix Gray, A Year of Life by W.S. Lilly, Galloping Dick by H.B.M. Wilson, The Blazed Trail by White, Sport in the Navy and Naval Yarns [no author shown] and Sir Hector by Robert Machray. Each was listed for sale at 75 cents.
How many of these have stood the test of time, I wonder. Gertrude Atherton [Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton] was, I know, a popular USian author in her time. Occasionally her works were controversial. What did Vancouverites think of those? Did the libraries offer them?
I just checked Vancouver Public Library's current catalogue and three of her books are listed - two are 'electronic resources' - Resanov and The Sacrificial Altar, but VPL does have a copy of her California, An Intimate History (1914). Not to worry, many of her books, including those mentioned just above are available for free on the 'Net. [Someone should tell VPL that, eh?] There's even a Facebook page for Gertrude Atherton. Give her a 'like'.
Private lending libraries could be much different than public libraries though. Much of the time, as now, the articles about public libraries concern funding, but sometimes even a civic report gives us an idea about what people were reading, as does this published piece about the Vancouver City's Annual Public Library Report for 1903.
The Library's collection is said to total over 8,000 books, and 130 daily, weekly or monthly papers and magazines are available in the reading rooms.
On average, 275 books were taken out every day, with Saturday being the biggest day for circulation. The article reported that on the previous Saturday, 400 books were returned and taken out - the staff handling thus 800 books. [And there were no computers then, remember, no self check-out machines or on-line renewals. A hand for those librarians, please!]
Of the newspapers and magazines, these were:
Dailies - Canadian, 11; American, 5; total, 16.
Weeklies - Canadian, 11; English, 30; Australian and South African, 6; American, 25; total, 54.
Monthlies - Canadian, 4; English, 30; American 25; total, 59.
Being of a pedantic mind, I think it's interesting to look at the general topics covered in the collection, given as of January 1902.
Theology - 223
Social and Political Economy - 385
History and Allied Subjects - 680
Biography - 526
Geography - 21
Voyages and Travels - 304
Astronomy, Geology, etc. - 117
Mettallurgy and Mineralogy - 121
Natural History, etc. - 301
Poetry and Drama - 198
Miscellaneous - 383 [!?]
Fiction - 3324
Fiction in paper covers - 17
Magazines - 278
Being repaired, etc. - 208
In reference library - 210
And lest you think all these materials would be in English, the article mentions books purchased since January 1902:
French misc. works - 168
French magazines - 100
German misc. works - 118
Miscellanous - 400
History and biography, I am happy to see, were a significant proportion of the collection.
And metallurgy and mineralogy - what was in that section? I remember when my father and his friend decided to start panning for gold in the 1940s, the first place Dad went was to the library. Maybe it was so in 1903 too.
From The Province, Vancouver, BC, Wednesday, 7 January 1903, page 2.
Friday, February 4, 2011
My Library Reads - January 2011 (mysteries)
What did I read from a library last month?
Only two books - both from Vancouver Public Library (VPL) and both historical mysteries. First was The Harper's Quine by Pat McIntosh, from her Gil Cunningham series and set around medieval Glasgow, Scotland in 1492, and second, On The Head of A Pin by Janet Kellough, featuring Thaddeus Lewis, a Methodist Episcopal preacher in Prince Edward County, Upper Canada, 1838 to 1842.
The Harper's Quine was a good read, but I found Pat McIntosh's use of historical dialect awkward and sometimes intrusive. (And there's no glossary.)
I thoroughly enjoyed On The Head of A Pin, however, and want to read more. As a genealogist, I did keeping hoping to read that Preacher Lewis was keeping careful track of the baptisms and marriages he took care of. Not so!
I searched the Vancouver Public Library catalogue at VPL.ca but none of Kellough's other books are in the collection. However, on-line, I see that she has a new book, Sowing Poison, due out this fall (Dundurn Press). I'm hoping that's another Thaddeus Lewis mystery and I'll be watching for that.
I also have Witches' Rings by Kerstin Ekman at home, taken out from the Vancouver Public Library, but I haven't had time to open it yet. This is the first volume in a series about a small Swedish community from the 1870s on. The four books, all available in English, are Witches' Rings (Häxringarna, 1974), translated by Linda Schenck, 1997, The Spring (Springkällan, 1976), translated by Linda Schenck, 1999, Angel House (Änglahuset, 1979), translated by Sarah G. Death, 2002, and A City of Light (En stad av ljus, 1983), translated by Linda Schenck, 2003.
I have already read one of Kerstin Ekman's mysteries, Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten, 1993, translated by Joan Tate, 1996), so I am looking forward to reading this series.
It seems VPL doesn't have all of Ekman's books, although the catalogue entries for this author and her books seem to be particularly untidy, so perhaps I will ask someone there to check again. Otherwise, I will hope that a book seller at Abebooks.com will come to my rescue.
Only two books - both from Vancouver Public Library (VPL) and both historical mysteries. First was The Harper's Quine by Pat McIntosh, from her Gil Cunningham series and set around medieval Glasgow, Scotland in 1492, and second, On The Head of A Pin by Janet Kellough, featuring Thaddeus Lewis, a Methodist Episcopal preacher in Prince Edward County, Upper Canada, 1838 to 1842.
The Harper's Quine was a good read, but I found Pat McIntosh's use of historical dialect awkward and sometimes intrusive. (And there's no glossary.)
I thoroughly enjoyed On The Head of A Pin, however, and want to read more. As a genealogist, I did keeping hoping to read that Preacher Lewis was keeping careful track of the baptisms and marriages he took care of. Not so!
I searched the Vancouver Public Library catalogue at VPL.ca but none of Kellough's other books are in the collection. However, on-line, I see that she has a new book, Sowing Poison, due out this fall (Dundurn Press). I'm hoping that's another Thaddeus Lewis mystery and I'll be watching for that.
I also have Witches' Rings by Kerstin Ekman at home, taken out from the Vancouver Public Library, but I haven't had time to open it yet. This is the first volume in a series about a small Swedish community from the 1870s on. The four books, all available in English, are Witches' Rings (Häxringarna, 1974), translated by Linda Schenck, 1997, The Spring (Springkällan, 1976), translated by Linda Schenck, 1999, Angel House (Änglahuset, 1979), translated by Sarah G. Death, 2002, and A City of Light (En stad av ljus, 1983), translated by Linda Schenck, 2003.
I have already read one of Kerstin Ekman's mysteries, Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten, 1993, translated by Joan Tate, 1996), so I am looking forward to reading this series.
It seems VPL doesn't have all of Ekman's books, although the catalogue entries for this author and her books seem to be particularly untidy, so perhaps I will ask someone there to check again. Otherwise, I will hope that a book seller at Abebooks.com will come to my rescue.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Reading Challenges - 2011
As a BookCrosser, I do participate in a selective number of challenges, and I've hostessed a few myself. Yearly, I'm in the BookCrossing Reduce Mount TBR (To Be Read) and the Keep Them Moving challenges, and the annual Canada Reads challenge.
I was just reading Sherri's Thoughts & Ramblings' 2010 in Review post and her Honorable Mentions for 2010, and noticed she's in Book Chick City's Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge 2011. Since I always read a LOT of mystery novels (suspense, not so many thrillers), I'm going to participate in that.
Pretty sure I get my mystery reader genes from my dad, as mystery and humour was mostly what he read. Ellery Queen (really cousins Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay, and Manford (Emanuel) Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee) and Rex Stout were among his favourites. Mum read those mysteries too, but liked Agatha Christie and Josephine Tey more. (I read 'em all after Mum and Dad finished.)
I'll pick a favourite mystery read each month to review. The first I've read in 2011 was The Exception by Christian Jungersen. Great novel! Book Chick City has a list of suspense and thriller sub-genres. This would fit into her 'Psychological Thriller' category. (She doesn't have a feminist category. That's something I should write about here.)
I'll be reviewing this and favourite Scandinavian mysteries in general soon, then bookcrossing The Exception later on, releasing it probably at the Lower Mainland (Vancouver BC) BookCrossing Meetup as there are many mystery readers among us there. If you live in Greater Vancouver, do contact us or come to a meetup.
I was just reading Sherri's Thoughts & Ramblings' 2010 in Review post and her Honorable Mentions for 2010, and noticed she's in Book Chick City's Mystery & Suspense Reading Challenge 2011. Since I always read a LOT of mystery novels (suspense, not so many thrillers), I'm going to participate in that.
Pretty sure I get my mystery reader genes from my dad, as mystery and humour was mostly what he read. Ellery Queen (really cousins Daniel Nathan, alias Frederic Dannay, and Manford (Emanuel) Lepofsky, alias Manfred Bennington Lee) and Rex Stout were among his favourites. Mum read those mysteries too, but liked Agatha Christie and Josephine Tey more. (I read 'em all after Mum and Dad finished.)
I'll pick a favourite mystery read each month to review. The first I've read in 2011 was The Exception by Christian Jungersen. Great novel! Book Chick City has a list of suspense and thriller sub-genres. This would fit into her 'Psychological Thriller' category. (She doesn't have a feminist category. That's something I should write about here.)
I'll be reviewing this and favourite Scandinavian mysteries in general soon, then bookcrossing The Exception later on, releasing it probably at the Lower Mainland (Vancouver BC) BookCrossing Meetup as there are many mystery readers among us there. If you live in Greater Vancouver, do contact us or come to a meetup.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
New to me - this week's books
On my way to the BookCrossing meetup last night, I dropped by a used book store... surprise!
At Renaissance Books in New Westminster, BC, I found - mostly mysteries:
Surfeit of Lampreys by Ngaio Marsh
Nemesis by Jo Nesbø
The Art of Murder by José Carlos Somoza
The Summer Snow by Rebecca Pawel
and these - both history:
One Gal's Army by Sue Ward
She was in the Canadian Women's Army Corps in WW II.
The Last Great Sea: A Voyage through the Human and Natural History of the North Pacific Ocean by Terry Glavin
And at Seconds! the Burnaby/New Westminster BookCrossing Meetup, held at Waves on Columbia Street in New Westminster, I picked up:
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
I know Little Brother is on-line free, but let's face it, I still do prefer to hold a book in my hands. (Although again last night we BookCrossers were looking at e-readers. I still like the Kobo the best, available at Chapters/Indigo/Coles.)
Looking forward to reading all my 'new to me' books soon. I've already started the Ngaio Marsh mystery. This is one it seems I never read.
At Renaissance Books in New Westminster, BC, I found - mostly mysteries:
Surfeit of Lampreys by Ngaio Marsh
Nemesis by Jo Nesbø
The Art of Murder by José Carlos Somoza
The Summer Snow by Rebecca Pawel
and these - both history:
One Gal's Army by Sue Ward
She was in the Canadian Women's Army Corps in WW II.
The Last Great Sea: A Voyage through the Human and Natural History of the North Pacific Ocean by Terry Glavin
And at Seconds! the Burnaby/New Westminster BookCrossing Meetup, held at Waves on Columbia Street in New Westminster, I picked up:
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
I know Little Brother is on-line free, but let's face it, I still do prefer to hold a book in my hands. (Although again last night we BookCrossers were looking at e-readers. I still like the Kobo the best, available at Chapters/Indigo/Coles.)
Looking forward to reading all my 'new to me' books soon. I've already started the Ngaio Marsh mystery. This is one it seems I never read.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Books as Presents
So far, for seasonal presents, I've bought only two new books - if you don't count the ones I've got for myself (and I don't).
The first was Charlotte Gray's Gold Diggers: Striking it Rich in the Klondike (HarperCollins Canada, 2010). There was a nice review in the Yukon News by Michael Gates, 24 September 2010, or pick up a copy of the latest Canada's History magazine, Dec 2010-Jan 2010. (Yes, that's the one previously known as The Beaver. It's on newstands now.) I always enjoy Charlotte Gray's writing; I'm sure my friend will too.
The other was Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel, about a young boy who learns to live with, and care about, a baby chimp as his 'brother'. (Harper Collins Publishers Ltd., 2010). From 15 December, 2010 here's an interview at the author's blog, reprinted from A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust. I hope the young man who'd getting this book will enjoy it as I did, although his perspective on it will likely be a lot different than mine.
The first was Charlotte Gray's Gold Diggers: Striking it Rich in the Klondike (HarperCollins Canada, 2010). There was a nice review in the Yukon News by Michael Gates, 24 September 2010, or pick up a copy of the latest Canada's History magazine, Dec 2010-Jan 2010. (Yes, that's the one previously known as The Beaver. It's on newstands now.) I always enjoy Charlotte Gray's writing; I'm sure my friend will too.
The other was Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel, about a young boy who learns to live with, and care about, a baby chimp as his 'brother'. (Harper Collins Publishers Ltd., 2010). From 15 December, 2010 here's an interview at the author's blog, reprinted from A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust. I hope the young man who'd getting this book will enjoy it as I did, although his perspective on it will likely be a lot different than mine.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Winter Wonderland - The Blog Carolling Tradition
I'm out carolling, carolling on this cold winter night with many of the ancestors and other rellies - the AXNERS, BROSTRÖMS, CARMICHAELS, DRUMMONDS, ERIKSSENS, GILCHRISTS, JOHANSONS, LÖFHOLMS, IRWINS, ROGERS, RYDBERGS, SAGGERS, SCOTTS, WHITES, and ZETTERBERGS and some I don't yet recognize. (Good thing I brought my netbook. Even while we're singing, I'm asking some questions and making notes.)
This special Carolling Night is now a GeneaBloggers tradition. Oh, dear, am I going to have to explain blogging to the great greats? (In antique Swedish or Gaelic??? Oh, my!) Even most of the 'old' songs we sing now aren't familiar to the family; this one was only written in the 1930s. But so far everyone is singing something and smiling, and admiring all the lights, so we're all good.
And, we'll share cocoa and Nanaimo bars later. Pretty sure the treats won't need any long explanations, but someone might want a recipe.
Right now we're singing one of my very favourite songs, "Winter Wonderland" by composer Felix Barnard and lyricist Richard B. Smith. While some of you know this has a bit of romance in it for me, snow where I live in the balmy southwest of British Columbia is an experience in itself, although there's tons on the mountains. Most days that's where I think it belongs, but I must admit once in a while it feels great to be out in the almost dark walking and singing while catching snowflakes in my mittens.
"When it snows, ain't it thrilling,
Though your nose gets a chilling
We'll frolic and play, the Eskimo way,
Walking in a winter wonderland." Full lyrics here.
Listen for us after the 15th of December when we'll be carolling at FootnoteMaven's place where she's hosting the FootnoteMaven Blog Caroling Tradition.
In the meantime, here's Cyndi Lauper singing "Winter Wonderland".
Cyndi Lauper, apparently performing on a Martha Stewart programme, uploaded by GilbertKiper at youtube.com, 15 Jun 2006.
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