Showing posts with label 2021 books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2021 books. Show all posts

Saturday, January 1, 2022

Right now

Right now...* 

*(an occasional (mostly monthly) meme, alternating from time to time with "The Current"). (Explanation of how this started & my inspirations in my first "Right now" post, here. Also my first "The Current" post, here.)

This edition comes to you from my parents' home in a small town on the Prairies of western Canada, where a white Christmas is practically guaranteed!  :)  

Pandemic diary/update: December was Month #21 going on #22 of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. 

So -- fourth wave, anyone??  :(  (Or is it the fifth?? I'm starting to lose track...!)  

Sadly, new cases in Ontario (and in other parts of Canada) absolutely skyrocketed during December, as the highly transmissible new Omicron variant took over from Delta. 780 new cases on Dec. 1st was as good/low as it got. Medical experts warned that, even WITH new public health measures and increased vaccination/booster shots, we could see 10,000 cases by Christmas -- and sadly, that's exactly what happened. :(  

By Dec. 23rd, daily new cases reached a new pandemic high of 5,790 (breaking the previous record of 4,800+ set back in April.)  The next day (Christmas Eve), it was 9,751 and on Christmas Day it was 10,412.  (Ho. Ho. Ho. :p  )  The numbers dipped below 10,000 for a few days but were back at 10,436 on Dec. 29th... then reached 13,807 on Dec. 30th and 16,713 yesterday to close out 2021. :(   Positivity rates were 29.8 per cent. 18,445 new cases today to kick off the new year. :(  (By comparison, the November low was 331 new cases on Nov. 2nd;  high was 964 on Nov. 28th.) And the medical authorities are saying this is just the tip of the iceberg;  actual case numbers are likely much higher, because testing sites are swamped and just can't keep up with requests for appointments, let alone processing results in a timely way. The powers that be are now restricting who can get a PCR test (unless you want to pay $180 at a private facility)(!). And meanwhile, our premier hasn't been seen or heard from for a full two weeks. WTAF?!!  As one Globe & Mail columnist wrote, "We’re in the ‘you’re on your own’ stage of the pandemic."  Lovely. :p  

Plans to drop the use of vaccine passports on Jan. 17th were postponed indefinitely by early/mid-December (DUH, and thank goodness for that!! -- many anti-vaxxers were just waiting things out until that date, knowing they'd then be free to go wherever they wanted without needing proof of vaccination). And on Dec. 15th, capacity at large "indoor entertainment venues, meeting/event spaces and large (1,000+ people) sports venues" was capped at 50 per cent (after capacity restrictions were lifted in mid-October). This includes concerts, theatres/cinemas, racing venues, museums, galleries, aquariums, zoos, science centres, landmarks, historic sites, botanical gardens and similar attractions, as well as casinos, bingo halls and other gaming establishments, fairs, rural exhibitions, and festivals.  But it still took the government another few days, until Dec. 19th, to reintroduce capacity limits  for restaurants & bars and other indoor settings -- even though case levels rose dramatically after limits were lifted in mid-October (and in fact started taking off almost exactly two weeks later, weeks before Omicron was identified... hmmm....).  

Third dose/booster shots began being offered on Dec. 13th to those 50 & older who were at least 168 days past their second shots. Those 18+ were to begin being vaccinated on Jan. 4th -- but on Dec. 15th, that date was moved up to Dec. 20th, and the timeline between second and third shots was compressed to three months. For dh & me, 168 days = Dec. 16th, and we got our boosters that morning at our family dr's office, two days before we flew west to spend Christmas with my family. :)  (This time around it was Pfizer -- we had AstraZeneca for our first shot in April, and Moderna for the second in July, so we have the complete set!  lol)  The province (finally!) started handing out boxes of free rapid tests in a number of public places too (although we weren't around to get any...!).  

Despite the rising case numbers, we were out and about a little more than usual this past month (mostly pre-omicron rise), for a variety of reasons. On top of dh's usual (once or twice weekly) trips to the supermarket for groceries, and to visit Little Great-Nephew at BIL & SIL's (4 times), we dropped off some donations (clothes & books) at Value Village, returned some photo frames (wrong size) to Michaels, went to the bank, and did some Christmas shopping at Chapters (twice) and Shoppers Drug Mart. We returned to our old old/former community on Dec. 11th for haircuts, and (as mentioned above) Dec. 16th for booster shots at our family doctor's office. 

Dh reported for jury duty on Monday (Nov. 29th) -- and was chosen to serve on one! The judge assured him the trial shouldn't last more than two weeks. Happily, it didn't -- we thought dh might have to stay overnight to deliberate on the verdict, but it was delivered in the early evening hours of Dec. 8th & he arrived home around 8:30 that night. Having served, he won't be considered for jury duty again for another three years. :)  

We all (dh & me, BIL & SIL, both nephews & their wives, and Little Great-Nephew, of course) descended on stepMIL to pay her and her family a pre-Christmas visit on Saturday, Dec. 4th. 

Despite the increasingly gloomy outlook re: Omicron, we flew west to visit my family on Saturday, Dec. 18th, which entailed time spent in both Toronto and Winnipeg airports, as well as on the plane (with everyone masked and vaccinated). Since we arrived here, we've mostly stayed at home (because of the frigid temperatures as well as covid...!).  My sister & I did some shopping at a couple of local stores a few days before Christmas (I was double-masked). 

One of Mom & Dad's neighbours dropped by for a few minutes to say hello, masked and keeping his distance by standing in the entryway. Parent's Neighbours' Daughter came over to play cards with us one evening, soon after we arrived. My mother was not comfortable with having her entire family over during the holidays, but dh, BIL/sister's partner & I made a brief (masked, partly outdoors) visit there on Christmas Day to drop off some presents -- and to admire their adorable new puppy!!  We were going to invite her over to play cards again -- BUT before we had the chance to call, she tested positive on a rapid test, and went for a PCR test on Dec. 30th. :(   We're *fairly* confident that we're OK, thanks to our vaccines/boosters, masks, and the fact that more than 5 days have elapsed and we're all still feeling fine. (Knock wood!)  

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Also right now:  

Reading: I finished 5 books in December (all reviewed on this blog, as well as Goodreads, & tagged "2021 books"):
I closed out 2021 with a total of 59 books read -- 164% of my 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 36 books. (This exceeds my best-ever showing in the Goodreads Challenge since I joined in 2016 -- which was 50 books read in all of 2019.) I completed & then exceeded my challenge goal for the year by 23 books, 24 books ahead of schedule. :)  

I am increasing my 2022 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal to 45 books ( = 3.75 books per month, on average). (See my "Reading year in review" post.)  

Current read(s): 
Coming up: 

(Most of my book groups have their next reads plotted out for a few months in advance -- and this is a great place for me to keep track of what I should read next, lol.) 
A few recently purchased titles (in digital format, mostly discounted or purchased with points):   
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Watching:  
  • We finally got to the end of "The Lost Symbol," the 10-episode TV adaptation of the Dan Brown novel I read earlier in the fall.  To be honest, I think it could (should) have been half as long. The TV writers threw in so many extra (unnecessary, IMHO) characters and subplots that weren't in the book. Poor Langdon was kind of overshadowed in his own story. It was okay -- it started out promisingly, and I enjoyed the Toronto-area locations -- but overall, I wouldn't rate it more than a C or 2.5 stars out of 5. 
  • Not watching:  The Grand Prix figure skating finals in Osaka, Japan, Dec. 9-12. They were cancelled because of Japan's ban on incoming travel (related to the covid omicron variant).  Nationals, Olympics and Worlds coming up in the new year! (unless those get cancelled because of covid too...)  :(  
  • We watched the Grey Cup on Dec. 12th -- the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) -- and the one football game I will watch every year, lol.  This year's game was held in Hamilton, Ontario (after no game was held last year because of covid -- which actually wiped out the entire season altogether), and featured the hometown team (the Tiger-Cats) versus my beloved Winnipeg Blue Bombers. (The Bombers won, in overtime!) 
  • Dh has been watching a lot of NFL and American college football lately -- which I must admit does not interest me in the least. 
    • (The CFL is, at least, Canadian, with its own unique rules and a colourful history, which goes back more than a century -- this was the 108th Grey Cup game. Even dh -- a lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fan -- thinks the CFL offers a far more exciting game to watch. Yet many people in the Toronto area prefer the NFL, and travel to Buffalo for Bills games, which baffles me. The problem is that without a Toronto team and Toronto fan support, the CFL would find itself in pretty deep financial trouble, possibly even fold -- and that would be a tragedy -- not to mention one more reason for the rest of the country to hate Toronto, lol. )  
Listening:  Christmas/holiday music. And I added a few more music channels to our favourites list while dh was on jury duty, including one for 80s music and another rock channel. :)  

Eating/Drinking: (Still) Trying to be cautious/bland, after a bout of gallstone/digestive issues that began in late October...   :(  When we were still at home, I was eating lots of toast and soda crackers,  chicken soup, chicken, rice and herbal tea. No wine/alcohol, no takeout on Saturday nights, no eggs for Sunday brunch -- for the time being, anyway. :(  

Since being at my parents' house, I've loosened up a little more. My dad cooked up a delicious roast beef dinner, which resulted in some gallstone grief  :(  -- but otherwise, I was able to (mostly) successfully eat pan-fried pickerel, turkey with gravy and stuffing, ham and scalloped potatos, perogies and (tomato sauce-less) cabbage rolls, baked pork chops, eggs, waffles and other good stuff, in moderation/small portions. A few minor twinges here & there, but nothing too notable, thank goodness and continuing to knock wood...! 

Buying (besides books, lol):  
  • Christmas presents! (both online & in store). 
  • A lap desk for my laptop. I already have one at home and bought another one to bring in my suitcase to my parents' house. My mother doesn't like it when we use our laptops at the dining room table, and I am getting too damn old and creaky to sit on the bedroom floor with it in my lap, using a stack of books for a mouse pad. (Yes, I still use a mouse -- don't judge me, lol.)  This will make it easier/more comfortable to use my laptop while sitting on a chair or sofa in the living room or family room. They will be free to use it when I'm not around. :)  
Wearing: I brought an assortment of Old Navy waffle-weave Christmas print PJ tops with me in my suitcase to wear over the Christmas holidays, along with yoga pants. Glad I brought my cardigan and slippers with me -- it has been cold!! 

Wanting:  An end to this pandemic, already!!  

Enjoying:  Lots of games of cards and dominos while at my parents' house. 

Appreciating: Being able to spend Christmas with my family again! 

Noticing:  How much my parents have aged in recent years. :(   

Wondering:  How much longer my parents will be able to stay in their split-level house on the big lot? (And how to persuade them to move sooner vs later, when they might not have any choice??) 

Hoping: To get to the McMichael Gallery (where I have a membership) when we return, to take in the "Uninvited: Canadian Women Artists in the Modern Moment" exhibit before it closes on Jan. 16th. We haven't been there since just before the pandemic began. There's a Group of Seven centenary exhibit that began just before the pandemic in 2020 (that we haven't seen yet) that's on until March 20th, too. (Perhaps a birthday outing?? -- we'll see what the covid situation is like when we return home... Masks and vaccinations are required, as well as timed tickets, purchased/reserved in advance.) 

Also hoping: For better things in 2022!  

Loving:  Seeing the sun shining outside (even if it's been around -30C here for the past several days...!)(colder with the wind chill factored in!).  

Feeling:  VERY happy that we got "home" for Christmas with my family. (But also looking forward to returning to our own space soon!)   Less happy about the skyrocketing covid rates right now. :(  
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Friday, December 31, 2021

2021 Reading Year in Review

I started doing a specific "Reading Year in Review" post last year, in 2020. I figured that since I was doing an overall year in review post (which includes some book information anyway), and a blogging year in review post -- and since keeping track of my books is a big thing I normally do on my blog -- my reading life deserved its own year-end wrap-up post too.  :) 

  • I increased my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal from 30 books in 2020 to 36 books in 2021, reached it by mid-July and wound up with almost double that number of books finished by year end, with 59 books to my credit, 164% of my goal. (I was secretly hoping to reach 60, when it became apparent that goal might be in reach -- but hey, still not a bad showing!) All books read were reviewed on this blog and tagged "2021 books."
    • My Goodreads 2021 Year in Review report tells me I read 59 books with 17,944 pages. 
      • The shortest book I read was "Before and After" by Alison Wilson (168 pages);  the longest was "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown (559 pages). 
      • Average book length was 304 pages. 
      • The most popular book I read ( = shelved by Goodreads readers) was "Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens;  the least popular was "Unimaginable" by Brooke D. Taylor. 
      • My average Goodreads rating in 2021 was 4.1 stars. 
      • The highest-rated book I read was "The Mother of All Dilemmas" by Kathleen Guthrie Woods (average 4.8 stars). 
    • I also started tracking books on The StoryGraph (which Brooke told me about), which provides slightly different stats (and even more, with a paid subscription). Only 54 of my 59 2021 books (16,652 pages) made it there in the transfer of data from Goodreads. 
      • The "moods" of my books were overwhelmingly reflective and emotional. 
      • Most of my books were medium or slow paced (45 & 38%, respectively) -- just 17% were considered fast-paced. 
      • 55% of my 2021 books were 300-499 pages;  40% were less than 300 pages and just 6% were over 500 pages. 
      • 65% of my 2021 books were fiction;  35 non-fiction. 
      • My most-read genre in 2021 was historical, followed by memoir, then romance and biography.  
      • StoryGraph also tracks the format of your books, but selects print as the default. It tells me 83% of my books this year were read in print format -- which I know is not correct. I suspect the format data didn't translate well in the transfer of data from Goodreads. Hopefully the data will be somewhat more accurate next year! 
      • Most-read authors in 2021 (no surprise here):  D.E. Stevenson & L.M. Montgomery. 
      • Average rating 4.04 stars. (Unlike Goodreads, The StoryGraph allows fractional star ratings.) 
    • For the first time in many years, fiction choices outnumbered non-fiction (many of them re-reads, but still...!):  36 fiction, 22 non-fiction and 1 volume of poetry.
    • Re-reads -- which I started counting as books read in 2020 -- accounted for 9 books of my 2021 total. (I think I calculated that correctly?)  
    • My library book club held its last meeting in late February 2020 -- just before the pandemic hit -- but online, the Gateway Women book club, D.E. Stevenson fan group, L.M. Montgomery Readathon on Facebook, and "Clever Name" online book club  have helped boost my 2021 reading totals and provided me with a lot of reading/discussion pleasure during a very difficult year.  
      • I read 8 books for GW, 10 for DES (6 different books, including 4 counted twice as re-reads), 7 for the L.M. Montgomery Readathon (5 different books, including 3 counted twice as re-reads, as well as one LMM book ("Emily's Quest") read on my own)., and 6 for Clever Name. 
    • Since I reached 36 books fairly easily this year (by July), I've decided to stretch a bit and increase my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal to 45 books ( = 3.75 books per month on average) for 2022. I've read more than 45 books in two of the past three years (2019 & 2021, and almost 45 in the third year -- 43 in 2020), so I think that's a reasonable/realistic goal to set. 
  • It's always very hard for me to pick a single book as "the best." I read some really, really good books this year -- very few disappointments or "meh" choices -- and I gave lots/most of them four and five-star reviews on Goodreads. (4.1 stars was my average Goodreads rating this year.)  A few of my favourites (and forgive me for not including links!): 
    • "The Thursday Murder Club" by Richard Osman 
    • "Confessions of a Forty-Something" by Alexandra Potter 
    • "The Bright Side" by Cathrin Bradbury 
    • "The Blue Castle" by L.M. Montgomery (a re-read of one of my all-time favourites) 
    • "Widowland" by C.J. Carey 
    • "American Baby" by Gabrielle Glaser 
    • "The Windsor Knot" by S.J. Bennett 
    • "Sorrow and Bliss" by Meg Mason 
    • "Us" by David Nicholls 
    • "Hungry" by Grace Dent 
    • "The Storyteller" by Dave Grohl 
Did you meet your reading goals for 2021 (if you set any)? What great books did you read this past year? 
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2021 Year in Review

Time for another Year in Review post for 2021! 

This is the 12th (!) year that I've done this year-end meme (first one published in December 2010) -- and, although many of the answers don't change much from year to year (and I can't always think of answers, lol -- at least new or interesting ones...!), it's still a great way to look back and keep track. (And, like last year, my 2021 answers may be somewhat different than in years past, given that we've spent the last full year -- almost two full years! -- living with a global pandemic...!) 

Feel free to use these questions on your own blog (& let me know if you do!).

All of my New Year's/Year in Review posts are tagged with the label "Year in Review."  

1. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't really make new year's resolutions anymore -- they tend to be pretty much the same ones, year after year (although I have modified some over time, and even deleted ones that no longer apply). Here are the perennials, and the progress I made (or didn't) in 2021:   
  • Lose weight. Last year, I was able to report that -- despite spending the better part of the year in couch potato/comfort food mode, I had gained only a net 0.2 pounds over what I weighed on January 1st, 2020.  Not bad, but still just below my heaviest-ever weight to that point.  I had kind of a rude awakening in August when I got on the scale (after avoiding it for several months) and found myself at my heaviest weight ever, by far. GULP.  However! (No) thanks to gout and gallstones, and a rather limited diet these past few weeks/months while trying to put both behind me (again), I was about 11 pounds below that all-time high the last time I weighed myself, pre-Christmas (about 7-8 pounds of that since early November). So, I did lose some weight overall -- but I would NOT recommend how it happened! -- and (assuming those pounds stay off...) I'm still nowhere near the weight I really need to be. 
  • Exercise more. (And hopefully lose more weight...!)  Massive fail on this one :(  -- although we *have* been taking walks to a nearby park with SIL & Little Great-Nephew  on most of our weekly visits there since May, weather permitting.  I still haven't gotten back into yoga either.  
  • Write more in my journal &/or blog. I haven't written in my paper journal in years. I've been far more successful with blogging: I recently marked my 14th (!!) year in this space. AND -- I wrote more in my blog this year than any year since I first started blogging! (A separate "Blogging year in review" post will be coming up shortly.) This blog does not entirely take the place of a private journal, but it's the closest thing I have to one at the moment. 
  • Read more of the books that have piled up around the house. I increased my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal this year from 30 to 36 books, and reached it by mid-July. I will finish out the year with 59 books to my credit, 164% of my goal! (All books read were reviewed on this blog under the tag "2021 books").  See my "Reading year in review post" (coming up) for more detailed analysis. 
  • Keep the clutter at bay.  (Goal slightly reworded from previous years.) As I've said before -- having downsized in 2016 from a 1,200 square foot, three-bedroom house (not including basement, garage & garden shed) to an 875-square-foot condo (plus one not-very-big storage locker) -- there's a LOT less clutter than there used to be -- and a lot less space for it to accumulate. I've tried to establish good habits & a place for everything right from the start, and so far, I think I've been pretty successful at doing that. Whenever the piles of books start to overwhelm my existing shelves, and/or I run out of spare hangers in the closet, I know it's time to do some weeding again, and make another trip to the thrift store...!  and if I can get an e-copy of a book cheaply (or for free -- my sister has her sources...), in most cases, the paper one will go into the donation pile. The storage locker could use another going through/paring down, one of these days -- BUT -- we recently took a couple of cartons of books to Value Village, as well as some clothes, and I now have lots of free hangers in my closet -- so I'd call that a win, overall. :)  
  • Return to scrapbooking & complete unfinished projects. (Goal reworded from previous years.)  Sadly, I have not done any scrapbooking in 10 years. And I donated the bulk of my scrapbooking supplies, including most of my substantial collection of pretty patterned paper, to the thrift store before we moved (sob!). I did keep all my unfinished projects, tools & a few other things, though. (They are sitting in a couple of plastic bins down in the storage locker. I probably need to go through those again, though... there are a lot of stamp pads, glitter glue, etc., that have probably dried up...!) So who knows, I may pick it up again at some point in the future & complete some of those unfinished albums...  
    • Perhaps a more realistic/pressing related goal would be to work on scanning more of my pre-digital photos. I didn't get a digital camera until 2004, but all my photos dating back to 1991 have been digitized. That's great but I've had my own camera since Christmas 1976, so I have a way to go yet...! (although we didn't used to take as many photos back then -- nobody had a camera with them all the time, as we do now, and film, flashes and processing were expensive!)  There used to be a photo shop chain (whose operations have now moved entirely online) near my office where I could get 400 prints or 35 mm negatives scanned for $99, and I would take them in whenever I had an extra $100.  I have a scanner here at home and do the odd one-off photo myself, but this would be a much greater undertaking...! 
2. What did you do in 2021 that you’d never done before?

(Continued to) live through a global pandemic, now in its second year (going into THIRD). (Needless to say, new/novel experiences have been further & fewer to come by...!). Finally saw my parents & sister for the first time in nearly two full years -- the longest time we've ever spent apart! :(   

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No. 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Dh's cousin's husband died suddenly in early October at age 65 (not much older than dh). He was the first cousin/cousin's spouse of dh's generation to go, and his death was a huge shock to everyone. We were unable to attend the funeral because we were in Manitoba with my family for (Canadian) Thanksgiving. (Can I say that I was kind of relieved we had an excuse not to be there, because I knew there would be unvaccinated people there??)  

Also, my dad's oldest brother died in October at age 93. He was not my favourite uncle, but he was part of my childhood, and the first of my uncles & aunts to pass away. :( 

5. What places* did you visit?

(* wording changed slightly from previous years;  the question used to read "countries." I noticed that Kathy of Bereaved & Blessed used "places" in answering her version of a similar questionnaire in 2019, and decided to use her wording after that. Makes me feel less travel-deprived!)

Needless to say, COVID-19 kept us mostly close to home during 2021. We returned to our old community several times for haircuts (between lockdowns...!) and to visit Katie's niche. We did take a day trip to the picturesque town of Elora with BIL & SIL early in the fall, and have been to visit Older Nephew & his wife a couple of times in their new home, about an hour north of us. 

By mid/late summer/early fall, with travel restrictions easing slightly and all of our immediate family members fully vaccinated, we were able to start planning a visit to see my aging parents and my sister in Manitoba, and we spent a week there in October for (Canadian) Thanksgiving, after 22 months apart. It was the longest I've ever gone without seeing them, and it was SO GOOD to be "home" and spend time with them again!  Despite Omicron and rapidly rising covid case numbers, we returned for Christmas on Dec. 18th. (We're still here!) 

6. What would you like to have in 2022 that you lacked in 2021?

Like most people, I would like this pandemic to just GO AWAY... but I'm not holding my breath...!  I think it's highly likely it will still be around by this time next year... albeit I'm hoping it will be on the wane/not quite as prevalent by then... 

I'd like more time with family -- mine & dh's. More time with Little Great-Nephew (and the dog!).

I'd have liked to travel too -- but I'm not holding my breath for that either at the moment. 

7. What date(s) from 2021 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Jan. 6th:  'Nuff said. :( 

Jan. 12th: My 60th (!!) birthday. 



April 5th, July 1st & Dec. 16th:  Our first and second covid shots and our (third) booster -- AstraZeneca, Moderna & Pfizer, in that order!! lol  

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Maintaining my sanity??  

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not getting out of the house for more walks!! (one of the few things we could easily leave the condo to do...!) 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No, thank goodness!! Thanks to vaccines, masks, extreme caution (and a little luck), we have dodged COVID-19 (so far...!), and we are VERY grateful for that! 

However, I did have a bout of gout in late August, and my gallstone issues reared their ugly head again in late October/November. :(   

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Beyond books (both paper and e-versions), and the occasional piece of jewelry from my favourite sterling silver jewelry crafter, I didn't buy an awful lot of stuff this year, for obvious reasons (i.e., we weren't going into stores -- either because they were closed or because we were avoiding the malls because of covid). I think the best thing I bought was probably the advent calendar (more like gift basket) from my favourite sterling silver jewelry crafter. I kicked myself for missing out on last year's (the first year she'd tried doing it), and I loved having a little surprise to open and brighten my day every morning during the first 24 days of December. :)  

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

All the frontline healthcare workers who have been putting their health & lives at risk to try to save others for almost two solid years now. 

Anyone who stood up for democracy, decency, science and rational thinking.  

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? 

Well, (once again) that's obvious. In the U.S., Donald Trump & his MAGA cronies/cult members.  :(  Not that we are immune here in Canada -- we have MAGA wanabes/imitators too, albeit not to quite the same extent.   

The conservative premiers here in Canada who ignored the best medical advice about covid, only acting when absolutely pushed to do so. (Jason Kenney in Alberta and Doug Ford in Ontario, I'm looking at you in particular...!). (Ford has not been seen in public for a full TWO WEEKS now -- since Dec. 17th -- as Omicron runs rampant and new covid case numbers skyrocket. Grrrrrr....)  

The people (on both sides of the border -- and around the world) who continue to ignore the science and refuse to get vaccinated, wear masks or follow other public health measures, thus dragging this pandemic out FAR longer than necessary, and resulting in far more cases and deaths than there could or should have been. :( 

14. Where did most of your money go?

(See #11!)  There was nowhere to go to spend a lot of money for most of the year. Beyond the usual bills, we have probably spent more money on groceries and personal care items.  Prices have been rising, dh has been doing most of the grocery shopping, and he is not the bargain hunter I am. ;)  With bookstores closed for several months (and shelf space in our condo at a premium), we also both spent a lot more money on e-books for our Kobo e-readers, albeit most of them at a deep discount, watching for bargains. 

We also still managed to buy things -- mostly cute outfits and books -- for our great-nephew, as well as fatten his piggy bank. ;)  

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Getting vaccinated!  Dh & I literally jumped up & down for joy when I managed to snag appointments for our first shots in April. 

Going "home" and seeing my parents and sister in October, for the first time in nearly two years. :)  And making a return trip at Christmastime. 

16. What song will always remind you of 2021?

I'm not sure. I Googled "top songs of 2021" and I think the only ones I'd heard were "Cold Heart" by Elton John and "Easy on Me" by Adele, which shows you how current my listening is, lol.  

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer?

Probably about the same in terms of happiness (started out the year happy about vaccines, ended it feeling somewhat depressed about omicron), slightly thinner (but I could have done without the gout & gallstones...!), and probably a draw on the financial front. 

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? 

Walking/exercise. There was just no excuse for it -- although the summer heat & humidity was discouraging. 

Reading more books than I did (although I did well in terms of meeting & exceeding my Goodreads challenge goal). But hey, there's always next year... 

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Sitting around the house. :p  There weren't many places to go, obviously, but we could have pushed the walking program more than we did. :p  

Watching too much news on TV. I like being well informed, but sometimes it just gets too overwhelming and depressing!  

20. How did you spend Christmas? 

With my parents, sister & her partner in Manitoba (after spending Christmas 2020 at home with just the two of us). Because of omicron and skyrocketing covid case numbers, we didn't spend as much time with PND & her family as we normally would, and we scaled back on the presents considerably. But we still had presents & stockings to open, we still had a couple of really great meals with most of our traditional favourites, and we still played lots of cards & dominos. (We're still here.)  It's been a good holiday!  :)   

21. Did you fall in love in 2021?

Never fell out. :) 

22. What was your favorite TV program?

I don't watch a lot of TV shows regularly, and I don't do a lot of streaming/binge watching. We both still love watching "Bob's Burgers" (both current episodes and reruns). We enjoyed the most recent seasons of "Jann" on CTV and the latest season of "Finding Your Roots" on PBS (as well as several other PBS programs), and I was still captivated by the most recent season of "The Handmaid's Tale."  Also, several series/documentaries on CNN, most notably "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy." 

I STILL haven't yet watched season 3 or 4 of "The Crown" on Netflix! 

23. Do you hate anyone now that you did not hate this time last year? 

Hate is a strong word, and I don't like using it.  Suffice to say, though, that I am definitely NOT a fan of the 45th President of the United States or his enablers! :p  (See #13.) 

24. What was the best book you read? 

(See #1)  It's always very hard for me to pick a single book as "the best," and I gave lots of books four and five-star reviews on Goodreads!  My average Goodreads rating this year was 4.1. I've listed some of my favourite reads in my "Reading year in review" post (to be posted soon). 

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

See #16 -- as in the past, I must admit, I don't listen to a lot of new music. 

26. What did you want and get?

I desperately wanted those covid vaccines, and it seemed like forever until we became eligible (and then able to book appointments!), especially for that very first one in April.  I jumped up & down with glee when I got those first shots booked.  Those appointment days were three of the happiest days of 2021 for me!  

Thanks to those vaccines, I finally got to go home and see my family, after almost two years apart, and then to spend Christmas with them again. That's a pretty big "get" in my books!  :)  And because of vaccines, we also got to spend more time this year with Little Great-Nephew. :)  

27. What did you want and not get?

The end of the pandemic and a return to normalcy (whatever that is these days...!). 

28. What was your favourite film of this year? 

Dh & I LOVE going to the movies, but that hasn't happened since very early in 2020 -- and we don't stream a lot of movies or watch a lot of pay-per-view.  But we're already talking about putting on masks and foregoing popcorn to see the new "Downton Abbey" movie with SIL when it comes out in the spring. :)  (The three of us went to see the first one together and enjoyed it hugely.)  

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 60 (!!) last January!  I wrote about how we spent the day, here. 

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

My answer to this question is usually travel-related. That goes without saying, I suppose...!  But obviously, the end of this pandemic!!  

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2021? 

More of the same: mostly yoga pants and T-shirts (worn without a bra)(even more so than usual!  lol). 

Cloth masks, matched to outfits (much to dh's bemusement...!) (although we now have some N95-equivalent masks too). 

My watch stopped working shortly after the pandemic began in March 2020. There's a kiosk at the nearby mall that replaces batteries, fixes watches, etc., but of course the mall was closed for long stretches of the past two years too, and even when it was open (with masks and social distancing measures in place), I wasn't keen to go there...! So I went without a watch for more than a year -- which was weird, as someone who has worn a watch almost daily, since I got one as a gift from my parents for my 8th birthday (a simple Timex, which I still have!). But in July, we went to the mall to get me a new cellphone, and I took the opportunity to check whether the kiosk was still there. It was!  The guy there replaced my watch's battery, and I've been wearing it daily again ever since then.  

32. What kept you sane?

(This question assumes sanity on my part, lol.  ;)  ) 

Sanity was slightly easier to find in 2021 than it was 2020, particularly once we became fully vaccinated in July, and things started reopening again in the summer (with some restrictions in place) -- and we were able to get haircuts again!! (lol) -- after salons were closed for 14 weeks and then 17 weeks! Trips to the bookstore once or twice a month since it reopened in the summer also lent a small semblance of normalcy to our lives. Being able to download e-books while it was closed also helped maintain sanity and morale for both of us. 

Being able to spend more time with Little Great-Nephew, once SIL started looking after him weekdays and once we all became fully vaccinated, was also a big boost to the spirit. 

In-person meetings of my library book club haven't happened since early 2020, but my online book clubs have continued to be a blessing. Regular Zoom chats & Skype sessions with friends (both online and "real life"), former co-workers and relatives also gave me something to look forward to regularly. 

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I have huge admiration for the doctors and public health officials who made frequent appearances on television this year, explaining the pandemic to us, and who did a great job of it. 

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The pandemic and how it's been (mis)handled by our leaders. (See #13.) 

35. Who did you miss? 

My parents & my sister. I was so happy to finally get "home" in October to see them, after nearly two years!  

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Needless to say, this year -- like last year -- was NOT a good year for meeting new people!! let alone seeing your longtime friends. :( 

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2021. 

Once again, this year brought home to me that life, youth & health are precious, and disappear far too quickly sometimes. Enjoy it all while you can! 

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Last year, I quoted "Band on the Run" by Paul McCartney & Wings, from 1974. I couldn't think of anything new at the moment, and it still fits!. :)   

Stuck inside these four walls,
Sent inside forever,
Never seeing no one
Nice again like you,
Mama you, mama you.
If I ever get out of here,
Thought of giving it all away
To a registered charity.
All I need is a pint a day
If I ever get outta here

If we ever get outta of here

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Coming up:  2021 in blogging and in books!  
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"Charlotte Fairlie" by D.E. Stevenson

My D.E. Stevenson online fan group will be starting a chapter-by-chapter reading & discussion of "Charlotte Fairlie" soon. This book also goes by the titles "The Enchanted Isle" and "Blow the Wind Southerly." 

My copy is a used volume that I got through Amazon, as this title (first published in 1954) has been out of print for many years -- before I learned that new paperback and e-book editions would be available as of Jan. 3rd!  Oh well!  

Our title character, Charlotte, not yet 30 years old, is the headmistress of Saint Elizabeth's School for girls, where she was once a pupil herself. In many ways, it's the only real home she's ever had, after her father essentially abandoned her after his remarriage. It's a challenging role, made more difficult by a disgruntled teacher who wanted Charlotte's job for herself. Into Charlotte's life comes a new student, Tessa MacRynne, who wants nothing more than to return to her father and home -- a castle on Targ, a remote island off the coast of Scotland.  In the second half of the book, Charlotte visits Tessa and her (divorced) father, Rory -- the "laird" -- during summer vacation, and comes to know the enchantments of Targ herself.  (You can probably guess what happens next.) 

In many ways, this is a typical Stevenson novel -- but some of the themes it touches upon are more serious than some of her other books. (Some mild spoilers follow.)  For example, another of Charlotte's students, and her two brothers, are being emotionally abused by their cold, distant father, with some tragic consequences. 

The last few chapters of the book take place at Christmastime -- something I didn't realize when I started reading it over the holidays. :)  Charlotte, facing a lonely Christmas at Saint Elizabeth's, packs her bags, starts driving aimlessly, and winds up staying at a small inn in a country village, taking comfort in the holiday services at the local church.  I was struck by a passage where Charlotte listens to the parishoners chattering about their children: 

"We left them in bed," one woman was saying. "They were opening their stockings. It was a treat to see Bobbie's face... he was too small last year to be excited about Santa Claus." 

"My two were awake at five," said her companion with a chuckle. "Jim and I were up till nearly two, decorating the tree, so we didn't get much sleep -- but there, Christmas belongs by rights to the children..." 

"That's what I always say," said the first woman. "Christmas would be sort of meaningless without children." 

Charlotte paused for a few moments at the lychgate with a pain in her heart. It was true. Christmas without children was meaningless... and then she raised her eyes and saw the little church with its lights shining through the stained-glass windows and she realised that there was one child who belonged to everybody who would let Him come in. The cloud upon her spirits lifted and quite suddenly she was happy and at peace. 

I realize not everyone will share  Charlotte's Christian beliefs or take comfort in them at Christmastime -- but it was a nice reminder of what the season is supposed to be about, and a welcome surprise to find childlessness treated in a sympathetic way in a book written in the 1950s (by a woman who had children and grandchildren herself). 

4 stars on Goodreads. I wouldn't count this as one of my favourite DES novels, but Charlotte is a very appealing heroine, and the usual lovely DES descriptions, along with the serious themes it tackles, sets this one above some of her other books. 

I will count this book again as a re-read after we finish our group discussion. 

This was Book #59 that I read in 2021 (and Book #5 finished in December) -- my final book read in 2021. (I was secretly hoping to reach 60, when it became apparent that goal might be in reach -- but hey, still not a bad showing!)  This brings me to 164% (!) of my 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 36 books -- 23 books more than my goal, and 24 books ahead of schedule. This is also my best-ever showing in the Goodreads Challenge since I joined in 2016 -- my next-best result was 50 books read in all of 2019.  You can find reviews of all my books read in 2021 tagged as "2021 books."  

A "Reading Year in Review" post will be coming soon!  :)   

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Monday, December 20, 2021

"Emily's Quest" by L.M. Montgomery

My L.M. Montgomery Readathon group on Facebook recently announced our next read, starting in early/mid-January:  "The Story Girl," which was first published in 1911, and was (along with the sequel, "The Golden Road," as well as some short stories) the basis for the highly successful "Road to Avonlea" TV series from back in the 1990s. 

This came as a surprise to many group members, who assumed we'd be reading "Emily's Quest" next, since our last two reads were the first two volumes in the "Emily" trilogy:  "Emily of New Moon" (reviewed here and here) and "Emily Climbs" (reviewed here and here). I'd actually already started reading "Emily's Quest" myself -- I figured we'd probably read it as a group, sooner or later, and whatever our next book was going to be, I wanted to complete Emily's story first. (I first read Emily when I was growing up, and have re-read the books since then, but not in many years.)  I started reading before we left for our Christmas holiday, covered the bulk of the book on the plane, and finished it at my parents' house. 

"Emily's Quest" picks up where "Emily Climbs" left off. Emily is now 17, a high school graduate, and back at New Moon, pursuing her ambitions as a writer -- "climbing the Alpine Path," as she (and Montgomery) would describe it. The path is long, lonely and difficult, with some unexpected twists and turns. Her friends Ilse & Teddy have gone to pursue further studies in Montreal, and Perry is now working in a law office in Charlottetown. In their absence, Emily takes comfort in the company of her old friend, Dean Priest...

Montgomery's writing is, as always, wonderful. Like the previous "Emily" books, this is a great portrait of a developing writer, and the ups and downs of the writing life, as well as a coming-of-age story, which followed Emily into her 20s. (Montgomery said that Emily was the character that was most like herself.) Although (and this is probably not a spoiler) there is (eventually) a happy ending, Emily suffers a great deal and in many ways in this book. The overall tone & feel is dark and bleak.  

Part of the darkness has to do with the character of Dean, and his evolving relationship with Emily. (We've had some vigorous discussions within the group on this subject while going through the first two books together...!) He is considerably older than Emily -- a friend of her late father, in fact -- and from a modern perspective, many group members have described his interest in Emily as "creepy." I don't remember feeling this way when I first read the book as a pre-teen/young teenager in the 1970s -- we weren't as aware then about "inappropriate" relationships, generally -- but nevertheless, Dean does something in this book that has stuck in my memory all these years -- something I've found pretty hard to forgive.  

I love Montgomery, love Emily. This book completes the Emily trilogy and wraps up a number of plot lines to the reader's satisfaction, and I loved it overall -- but I have to admit, it's probably my least favourite of the three. I can't rate it quite as highly as I rated the previous two volumes. I'm giving this one 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 on Goodreads. 

This was Book #58 read to date in 2021 (and Book #4 finished in December), bringing me to 161% (!) of my 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 36 books. (I've exceeded my best-ever showing in the Goodreads Challenge since I joined in 2016 -- which was 50 books read in all of 2019.)  I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 24 (!) books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2021 tagged as "2021 books."  
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Thursday, December 16, 2021

"Unrequited Infatuations" by Stevie Van Zandt

As a longtime Bruce Springsteen fan (dh introduced me to his music early in our relationship, in the early 1980s), I immediately put "Unrequited Infatuations" on my reading list when I heard that Stevie Van Zandt had written a memoir. It was released earlier this fall. (I bought it the same day I bought Dave Grohl's memoir, and it was a toss-up as to which book I'd read first. Dave won.) 

As one review I read pointed out, Van Zandt is best known as the "consigliere" to two of New Jersey's most famous sons -- one being Bruce Springsteen, and the other (fictional) Tony Soprano of television's "The Sopranos." He first met Springsteen as a teenager in the 1960s, both musicians in rival bands, who bonded over their mutual passion for rock and roll music. As "Miami Steve," he was Springsteen's onstage harmonizing sidekick in the E Street Band and offstage arranger, producer and adviser. Their partnership lasted until 1983, when Van Zandt asked for a formal role in decision-making for the band. Springsteen refused. Van Zandt quit. They eventually rekindled their friendship, but he didn't rejoin the band until 1999.  

In the meantime, he produced albums for other artists. He formed his own band, Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. (I had at least one of their albums, now in Older Nephew's collection.) The band's first drummer on the road was Dino Danelli, formerly of the Rascals, one of Van Zandt's favourite bands, growing up. Years later, he would pull off the nearly impossible feat of bringing the four feuding members of the Rascals together again, first for a one-off charity event and then for a tour, which included a run on Broadway. (Dh & I saw the show in Toronto in August 2013 and thoroughly enjoyed it.)  

Van Zandt was instrumental in getting the Rascals inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 -- which was, in turn, helped him land the role of Silvio Dante in "The Sopranos." (The show's writer and producer, David Chase, saw him deliver the Rascals' induction speech and thought he'd be a natural as Silvio.)  He's since acted in other vehicles, including "Lilyhammer" -- a fish-out-of-water story about (another) Italian-American mobster living in Norway (!). (I've never seen it, but -- being part Swedish myself -- I got a kick out of his descriptions.)  

A trip behind the Iron Curtain triggered a quest to educate himself about political issues. He became an activist, organizing other artists from across musical genres to record the influential anti-apartheid anthem "Sun City." (I hadn't seen the video in years until I looked it up for this post... it's still pretty powerful.)  And he and his wife Maureen (who, by the way, have no children) are passionate advocates for the arts, especially in education. Their Rock and Roll Forever Foundation has developed a curriculum for use in schools called TeachRock, which uses the history of rock and roll as an educational tool. Van Zandt also hosts a radio show, "Little Steven's Underground Garage," on Sirius XM, where he spotlights his favourite artists and songs from the 1960s & 70s, as well as newer unknown bands (some of them signed to his Wicked Cool Records label).  

This one took me longer than I expected to read -- partly because of other stuff going on my life that distracted me from reading -- but also because there was a lot to wade through and absorb. (I also found myself somewhat distracted/irritated by Van Zandt's annoying habit of capitalizing random terms such as Rock, Jazz, Manager, Arranger, Artist, Religion, etc. etc.) A friend who read the book first told me it was "fun, but needed a heavy dose of suspended disbelief."  Having now finished the book, I agree.  To put it mildly, the guy has an extremely robust ego  ;) (and a fairly sizeable chip on his shoulder).  As she hinted, I suspect there's some healthy embellishment going on, lol.  But he's honest about his shortcomings too. He's done a lot of interesting things in his life, dabbled in a lot of different areas, and he has some interesting stories to tell. If you love rock and roll music, if you grew up listening to Sixties, Seventies and/or Eighties music (as I did), if you're a Springsteen or Sopranos fan, you will probably enjoy this book. 

I debated how to rate this book -- 3.5 or 4? I'm giving it 4, because it did pick up towards the end, and left me with a smile on my face.  I especially loved this passage, near the very end, where he talks about his TeachRock curriculum: 

My initial ambition for education was quite modest. All I wanted was for every kid in kindergarten to be able to name the four Beatles, dance to "Satisfaction," sing along with "Long Tall Sally," and recite every word of "Subterranean Homesick Blues." 

The rest will take care of itself. 

This was Book #57 read to date in 2021 (and Book #3 finished in December), bringing me to 158% (!) of my 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 36 books. (I've exceeded my best-ever showing in the Goodreads Challenge since I joined in 2016 -- which was 50 books read in all of 2019.)  I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 23 (!) books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2021 tagged as "2021 books." 

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AND.... this is it!!  Post #2,000 since I began blogging in October 2007!!!   

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Monday, December 13, 2021

"Emily Climbs" by L.M. Montgomery (re-read)

My L.M. Montgomery Readathon group on Facebook recently finished our group read & discussion of "Emily Climbs," the second volume in the "Emily" trilogy, which I read and reviewed (here) before we began our discussion in mid-September. (The first volume is "Emily of New Moon," which we read together over the summer -- reviewed here and here;  the third -- which I hope we will also read together in group, eventually -- is "Emily's Quest.")  

This second Emily book follows the continuing adventures of our teenaged heroine during three years of high school in Shrewsbury, boarding with her persnickety Aunt Ruth and developing her talents as a writer. Our group discussions added so much to my appreciation and understanding of Emily, Montgomery and their worlds, covering everything from turn-of-the-century (i.e., early 1900s) fashions and hairstyles to Charlotte Bronte, pie socials and chow dogs (!).  

My original rating of 4 stars on Goodreads remains unchanged. 

Our next Readathon book has not yet been announced. I'm guessing we probably won't start it until after the new year.  

This was Book #56 read to date in 2021 (and Book #2 finished in December), bringing me to 156% (!) of my 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 36 books. (I've exceeded my best-ever showing in the Goodreads Challenge since I joined in 2016 -- which was 50 books read in all of 2019.)  I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 22 (!) books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2021 tagged as "2021 books." 

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This is post #1,997 since I began blogging in October 2007!  -- Three (3) more to reach 2,000 posts -- hopefully by the end of December/2021!  

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