I did A LOT of reading this year. I suppose being stuck at home during a pandemic will do that for you. Total books read: roughly 160 Fiction: 62% Non-Fiction: 38% Below are some of the ones I liked best, in no particular order. While I read fewer non-fiction titles, more of them stuck with […]

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Well, I made my target of 10,000 words in November for Nanowrimo, though I have done not a thing since. Even without any more writing in December, I’ll beat 2020’s total word count by a bit. Does this matter? Some of the words aren’t very good. Some of them will end up having nothing to […]

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In the thick of my Nanowrimo drive for 2021 (target: 10,000 words). But I’m still getting some reading done. Here are my favourites of the last two months. FICTION The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo. Absolutely loved this novella about empires, hidden magic, and power in unexpected places. Bonus: Mastadon cavalries. Black Water […]

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It was almost like “the before times”, but with added masks and vaccine passports. A planned family reunion in Picton, Ontario was cancelled but, as we have friends there, we kept our hotel reservation and went to “the county” for a few days. Observations: Clearly, a large number of Ontarians had decided to do the […]

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Sadly, there was no pretty picture this year, though I did read a few physical books. But here’s what I read and enjoyed on my vacation. FIction: The Last True Gentleman on the Planet Earth by David Keyes. I’m not objective about this one, as David is a dear friend. But this is a wonderful […]

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The heat continues and it has managed to sap a good deal of my motivation to do much more than read, lie under the fan, and watch Youtube videos. On the positive side: wrote 5,000 words in July. went to the museum for a safely-masked visit of two excellent new exhibits. had lunch on a […]

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“What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a constant state of inelegance.” Jane Austen called it. I hate the heat and humidity of Toronto summer weather. I’m only grateful I’m not in B.C., where heat records are falling like nine pins. It’s not the time to be reading a book about climate […]

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I managed a lot of reading over the last three months, some of it frothy, some of it scientific, some of it unexpected. I know, I should have been writing, but c’est la vie. Here are some of the memorable ones. A fine selection of rock memoirs, including LAST CHANCE TEXACO by Rickie Lee Jones […]

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I usually alternate monthly writing goals between actual writing and planning/plotting projects. April was Camp Nanowrimo and I managed my goal of 10,000 words – but it became clear I needed to make some decisions. May therefore became “brainstorm and decide” month. Some of the questions on the table included: What exactly is the religion? […]

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I’ve gone on a lot of walks over the last year. I’ve got several regular routes, some of which involve the alleyways of garages that are common in my area. In my perambulations, I’ve discovered that there’s lots of interesting art on garage doors and back fences. I decided to assemble some of my favourite […]

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