Summer Reading

Well, it’s off to a great start! This morning I had a million reasons to get up and get going on my day, but I had to stay in bed to finish reading Dooley Takes the Fall by Norah McClintock first. You don’t often see “literary” and “page-turner” together in a review, but both words apply to this book. The characters are complex, and how those complexities are revealed to the reader is the work of a master.  Similarly, the plot twists. Just brilliant! And Norah doesn’t fall into the easy trap of wrapping things up too neatly either. Nuff said. Except – read it!

The other book that makes me feel pretty good about my summer reading so far is The Good Lie by D.F. Bailey. It might not quite qualify as a summer read because I started it some months ago, but I did just finish it last week. No, it’s not that I’m a very slow reader. I was reading the book aloud at the CNIB recording studio, where I’ve been a volunteer reader and technician for several years now. Bailey has set up a web site that offers fascinating glimpses into his writing process, so check it out and his book.

Coincidentally, guilt and blame and what happens when people do wrong things for right reasons are explored in both books. Both can be said to be mysteries but I consider them “mysteries of the human heart” more than (or at least as much as) mysteries in the traditional sense of the word.

If it seems over the coming weeks that I have abandoned my blog, it’s just temporary. Between packing up for a move in the fall and our workshop in Nova Scotia – and of course more summer reading – I may not be around here for a while. In the meantime, enjoy your summer reading!