Books

Book of the month – August 2026

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How to Read a Book

Monica Wood

The title is catchy, but this is not actually a book about how to read! It’s a heartwarming novel about forgiveness, second chances, unlikely friendships, and the life-changing power of books.

The author, Monica Wood, brings a prison, a bookstore, and a science lab to life in such a way that we can easily picture ourselves in each location, but the greatest strength of this book is character development. We are immediately drawn into the lives of the three main characters. Violet Powell is a 22-year-old from rural Maine who is released from prison after serving 22 months for a drunk-driving accident that killed an older kindergarten teacher. Frank Daigle, a retired machinist who works part time as a bookstore handyman, has yet to come to terms with the complications of his marriage to the woman who died in the crash. Widow, Harriet Larson, is a retired English teacher who runs the prison book club. A chance encounter between these three becomes life-changing for each of them.

The characters are believable and imperfect, just like the rest of us! When Violet enters into an illicit affair with her much older employer, my first thought was “How stupid!” until I thought about how vulnerable she was and remembered some of the incredibly idiotic decisions that I made at a similar age.

This was a feel-good book, but also thought provoking. Now I have Monica Wood’s memoir, When We Were the Kennedys, on my Kindle, ready to read on our upcoming trip, but more about that in future posts!

And as a totally unrelated aside, many thanks to those of you who made donations to my Hoofing It fundraiser for neuroendocrine cancer research after reading my last post. Your generosity is very much appreciated!

Book of the Month – July 2026

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The Au Pair

Emma Rous

I don’t usually read mysteries, but this one caught my eye when I was shopping for second-hand books and I decided to give it a try. I can’t say that it’s going to turn me into an avid mystery reader, but it did keep my interest until the very end as I wondered how it was going to turn out.

Mourning the recent death of her father and going through his belongings, Seraphine Mayes discovers an old family photograph that raises dangerous questions. Taken on the midsummer day that Seraphine and her twin brother, Danny, were born at the family estate on the Norfolk coast, the photo shows their mother, surrounded by her husband and her young son, looking serene and holding just one baby.

Who was that baby and why wasn’t the other one in the picture? What caused their mother to throw herself from the nearby cliffs later that same day and why did the family’s au pair flee never to be heard from again? Determined to unravel the mystery and find out the truth about who she really is, Seraphine stirs up a hornet’s nest that puts herself and others in danger and threatens to tear their family apart.

Told in alternating chapters by Seraphine in present day and Laura, the young au pair, twenty-five years earlier, the story kept me turning the pages until I reached the somewhat convoluted climax. It did come to a logical conclusion that answered all Seraphine’s questions, but I found the ending a bit confusing as I tried to keep straight in my mind who all the characters were and how they were related to one another. It was overall an entertaining read though and one that mystery readers would likely enjoy.

The underlying message of the book and one that the author says she hopes her readers will take away from it is that family is about more than genetics.

Book of the month – June 2026

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The Correspondent

Virginia Evans

When I requested this debut novel through the interlibrary loan system, I was something like 85th on the waiting list! Obviously, like me, many others had read the positive reviews and were eager to get their hands on it. While I waited and my name slowly climbed up the list, I wondered if I would actually enjoy it. Could an epistolary novel, one written entirely in letters and emails, truly tell an engaging story or would it be a disappointment?

The day finally came when the the library called to tell me that the book was in and once I started reading it, I had a very hard time putting it down! The more I read, the more I loved it! In fact, I read most of it in one day. As my usual bedtime approached, it was easy to tell myself that I’d read just one more letter. Of course, one letter became two and two became three. After several more letters, wisdom finally prevailed. I reluctantly put the book down and went to bed, but I eagerly picked it up and finished it the next morning.

Sybil Van Antwerp is a mother, a grandmother, a divorcee, and a retired lawyer who lives alone. When the book opens, she, like me, is in her early seventies. She has always been an avid letter writer, feeling that she can express herself better through the written word than orally. She regularly writes to her brother, Felix, her best friend, Rosalie, and her daughter, Fiona, but she also writes to her neighbour, her eye doctor, a customer service representative, and the dean of a university faculty who won’t let her audit a class she desperately wants to take. She even writes to her favourite authors to tell them what she thinks of their latest books. Through the letters that she writes and the responses that she receives, we learn a great deal about her life both past and present. We learn about her losses, her regrets, her fears, and the struggles that come with aging, but we also see kindness and generosity. In other words, Sybil comes across as a real, imperfect person just like the rest of us.

This is definitely a book that was worth waiting for!

Book of the month – April 2026

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Moon Road

Sarah Leipciger

Divorced for more than two decades, Yannick and Kathleen have not seen or spoken to one another for nineteen years when they receive the news that human remains have been unearthed on Vancouver Island. Could this be their daughter, Una, who disappeared without a trace over twenty years earlier? This unimaginable shared loss brings them together for a cross-Canada trip from Ontario all the way to the Pacific Coast.

As they bicker their way across more than two thousand miles of Canadian Shield, prairie, mountain, and forest in Yannick’s old pick-up truck, a history of love, loss, headstrong children, and hopeless searching reveals itself.

It was the cross-Canada trek, a route that I have traveled several times myself, that first drew me to this book, but it was superb character development  that kept me turning the pages. Kathleen is strong, single-minded, and independent. After all the years that have passed, she still keeps a running count of the number of days that Una has been missing, maintains a Find Una Facebook page, and hosts an annual party to keep the memory of her disappearance alive. Yannick, divorced several times, is a bit of a lost soul, restless, unsettled, and feeling his age in creaky bones and aching joints.

I’ve seen valid comparisons made between Moon Road and Elizabeth Strout’s novels, but truth be told, I enjoyed this one more. It’s a thoughtful and moving story that I found difficult to put down.

Moon Road was the first of Sarah Leipciger’s novels that I’ve read, but I’ll definitely be looking for her two earlier ones, The Mountain Can Wait and Coming Up for Air.

Book of the month – February 2026

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Finding Flora

Elinor Florence

When a friend recommended this historical novel I was immediately intrigued because the setting is a very familiar one. The story takes place near the location of present-day Clive, Alberta, about an hour and a half by car from where I live! The action begins in 1905 with Scottish newcomer, Flora Craigie, jumping from a moving train to escape a disastrous marriage. Depending on where you live, 1905 might seem like fairly recent history, but this was brand new country at that time. The town where I live was established as a Canadian Pacific Railway townsite in 1906 and incorporated as a village in March 1907.

In the early 1900s, the Canadian government granted 160 acres of free land to any man who met three stringent conditions: he had to live on the property for three years, build a habitable dwelling, and cultivate a required number of acres each year. That opportunity wasn’t open to single women, however. Not surprising, I suppose, if you consider the fact that women in Canada weren’t even legally declared persons until October 18, 1929!

The heroine of our very well-researched story finds a legal loophole, however. Canadian veterans of the Boer War in South Africa were granted homesteads by the federal government in appreciation for their service and there was no law against them selling these claims. Flora purchases her claim from one of the twelve Canadian nurses who served in the Boer War and who were therefore considered veterans. She is astonished to find that her nearest neighbours are also female: a Welsh widow with three children, two American women raising chickens, and a Métis woman who trains wild horses.

With strength, determination, and endless courage Flora and her neighbours battle the harsh environment as well as those who were opposed to women owning land. They endure backbreaking labour and many hardships that were common to early Canadian settlers. Hardships like the winter storm that kept us housebound one day last week. Imagine surviving a prairie blizzard in a one room cabin without insulation, indoor plumbing, electricity, and central heating! To complicate matters for Flora, there were indications that her violent husband hadn’t given up looking for her.

The kindness of strangers and the importance of community are themes that weave their way through this heartwarming story.  There’s also an element of romance and although the ending is quite predictable, I can’t help but love a story about resilient boundary-breaking women!

Book of the month – January 2026

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More than ever these days, with the world in ever increasing chaos, escaping into a good book seems to be a way to hold onto one’s sanity!

As a child, when I was feeling down or stayed home from school because I was sick, I often turned to my same favourite book and read it again. As an adult, however, I seldom reread books. I first read this month’s feature trilogy soon after the third book was published in 1995. The boxed set has been sitting on a shelf downstairs for almost three decades and lately it had been calling out to me. Although I remembered the main characters and knew that the story had impacted me the first time I read it, I couldn’t recall many of the details. It was definitely worth a second read.

Mark of the Lion

Francine Rivers

I seldom read Christian novels because most of them are either futuristic stories based on the author’s interpretation of the Biblical book of Revelation or fluffy happy-ever-after romances. These three books definitely don’t fall into either of those categories. In fact, they are best suited to a mature audience that isn’t overly squeamish as there are some fairly graphic descriptions of violence and cruelty, as well as references to sexuality and sexually transmitted disease, discrimination, and other forms of injustice. For those who like romance, though, there’s also some of that!

Set mainly in 1st century Rome and Ephesus, this is a story of courage, faith, forgiveness, and redemption. The main characters include Hadassah, a young girl captured during the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD and sold into slavery; the Valerians, a wealthy and aristocratic Roman family; and Atretes, a German warrior captured and trained as a gladiator. In addition, the author weaves in a whole host of other characters including several from the Bible, fictionalized of course.

Rivers does an outstanding job of vividly portraying the decadent culture of 1st century Rome and at times it seems all too familiar as many of the same issues still plague us today. One would have to wonder if contemporary Western culture is destined to fall in much the same way that corrupt Rome did, but I digress!

The core message of Christianity is woven throughout the series and clearly motivates some of the characters, but Rivers has managed to incorporate this without becoming preachy.

Even the second time through, I could hardly put these books down. In the words of one Goodreads reviewer, “These are can’t put down, aren’t going to feed the kids or the dog, not doing laundry kind of books!” Fortunately, my kids have all flown the nest and we don’t have a dog!

Paper or digital?

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There was a time when I wrote everything by hand. As a university student in the early 1970s, while most of my peers were cranking out essays on manual or electric typewriters, every paper that I submitted was handwritten. It wasn’t because I didn’t know how to type. My mother had insisted that typing was a skill that every girl should have, so I had taken typing classes in high school. I just preferred to write by hand. My early freelance articles were handwritten, but I typed a final copy for submission because  that was required by most publications. Then came computers and the ease of word processing. I made the transition to writing on a keyboard and never looked back.

There are, however, some areas where I have intentionally hung onto vestiges of the past.

In a world where it seems that we’re constantly glued to screens, I still prefer a physical, paper calendar that gives me a visual overview of upcoming appointments and events. One hangs on our kitchen wall and I carry a smaller version in my purse.

I also use a simple paper planner where I write my daily to-do list. Putting pen to paper and actually writing down my intentions and placing them where I will see them multiple times throughout the day keeps me focused on accomplishing them and there’s something deeply satisfying about crossing off each item as it’s completed. Unlike digital alerts that disappear once they’re completed, a handwritten paper planner also provides a record of tasks completed and gives me a greater sense of accomplishment. Ultimately though, the best calendar or planner is the one that a person will use consistently and for me, that’s paper.

Then there’s books. When we travel, I absolutely love the convenience of the e-reader that my daughter gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago, but at home I still prefer to immerse myself in the pages of an actual, physical book.

What about you? Have you completely joined the digital world or are you like me, still a little bit old-school?

Book of the month – December 2025

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Early in December, I was looking for something light and entertaining to read when I came across two books that fit the bill. The fact that both are set in locations that I’ve had the privilege of visiting added to the fun. Since I couldn’t decide which one to review this month, I decided to share them both.

Buying a Piece of Paris: The Home of My Dreams in the City of Lights

Ellie Nielsen

Buying a Piece of Paris is a charming memoir about the Australian author’s humorous and challenging quest to find and purchase an apartment in Paris. With only two weeks to locate and secure the apartment of her dreams, something exuding character and Parisian chic, Ellie embarks on what seems an almost impossible pursuit. Armed with only a cursory grasp of the language, she finds herself trying to navigate the bewildering French real estate market with its unique customs, quirky agents, and unexpected cultural hurdles. All in all, a very entertaining read and especially so since, although I’ve only spent five days in Paris, I could visualize many of the places that she mentioned and the kind of buildings she visited in her frantic and sometimes hilarious search for the perfect place to call home.

A couple of Paris street scenes from our visit in 2019…

The Colour of Tea

Hannah Tunnicliffe

After moving with her husband to the tiny, bustling city of Macau, across the Pearl River delta from Hong Kong, Grace Miller finds herself a stranger in a very foreign land. Facing the devastating news of her infertility and a marriage in crisis, Grace resolves to do something bold, something that her impetuous mother might have done. Turning to her love of baking, she opens Lillian’s, a café specializing in coffee, tea, and delicate French macarons. In this story of love, friendship, and renewal, Lillian’s quickly becomes a sanctuary where women from different cultural backgrounds come together to support one another.

I could easily visualize Grace’s café on a street like this, one of the many that we walked down during our one day visit to Macau in 2009.

Book of the month – November 2025

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CLAIRE McCARDELL The Designer Who Set Women Free

Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson

When Jennifer Connolly of A Well Styled Life, mentioned this fascinating biography in a post a couple of months ago, I knew I had to read it. A book about fashion and a woman ahead of her time all wrapped up in one! What’s not to like? I immediately searched our interlibrary loan system and requested it. I was not disappointed.

At a time when American designers were still copying Parisian fashions and dressing society women who could afford to change their clothes three times a day, McCardell fought to introduce functional ready-to-wear clothing for modern women who, like herself, were going to work, playing sports, and traveling. She introduced “menswear” fabrics like denim and tweed into womenswear. She invented ballet flats and although they shocked beachgoers at the time, she designed swimsuits that were actually comfortable to swim in! Thanks to her, we have wrap dresses, hoodies, and leggings, and although she didn’t use the term, she introduced the concept of a capsule wardrobe; a small collection of versatile, quality clothing items that could be mixed and matched to create a wide variety of outfits. And, perhaps best of all, she insisted that women’s clothing should have functional pockets! 

When interviewed by a popular radio host who asked her, “Do you believe the old saying that you have to suffer to be beautiful?”, McCardell responded, “I certainly don’t. When you’re uncomfortable you are likely to show it. That’s why I make even my most formal dresses as comfortable as a playsuit. Clothes should stay put too, so there is no temptation to be forever pulling, pinching, and adjusting them which spoils your own fun and makes everyone else fidgety. You never look really well-dressed when you’re overconscious of what you have on. Comfort should be a keynote of style.” Definitely a woman after my own heart! 

Book of the month – October 2025

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When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress

Gabor Maté, MD

In this international bestseller, renowned mental health expert and speaker, Dr. Gabor Maté, provides insight into the critical role that stress and emotions play in the development of many common diseases.

Although written for a general audience, When the Body Says No definitely wouldn’t be everybody’s cup of tea. It’s like reading a textbook, but my daughter and I both read it recently and when I discovered that another friend was also reading it, I decided that it might appeal to more of you and that it would be worth reviewing here.

Dr. Maté has experience as a family practitioner and a palliative care physician and has also worked with the addicted men and women of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. He weaves together scientific research, numerous case histories, and his own insights and experience to explain the relationship between psychological stress and the onset of chronic illnesses including arthritis, cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease. While I don’t agree with everything he says and he definitely needs to update the section on prostate cancer (the book was published in 2003 ), a lot of it makes very good sense. 

What I liked best was the fact that Dr. Maté validated what I have believed for years; that the stress I endured prior to and especially during the early decades of our marriage and the anger that I suppressed during those years contributed to my present health conditions. In fact, the author would probably say that they caused my cancers. As he says, all of us probably have within our bodies the occasional rogue cell that could multiply and become cancer. In most cases, the body has the resources to destroy those cells before they spread, but chronic stress and repressed anger reduce the body’s ability to do that and magnify the risk of developing the disease.  

In the final chapter of the book, Dr. Maté addresses what he calls the seven A’s of healing: acceptance, awareness, anger, autonomy, attachment, assertion, and affirmation. He believes that pursuing these will help us grow into emotional competence and empower us to be our own health advocates.

Note:  This book was published in the US under the title When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection.