December 8, 2013 Christmas Wish List Event
- Thread starter Gail Anderson-Dargatz
- Start date
Eva Stachniak: "My Evernote is opened...taking all the recommendations." I always knew that Eva had some secret method of being more "together" than the rest of us!
I've also read several new books of fiction by men whom I admire: Anthony de Sa's Kicking the Sky, Justin Cartwright's Lion Heart, ER Brown's Almost Criminal, Wayne Johnston's Son of a Certain Woman, to name a few. I love anything by Michelle de Kretser, so will look up her new book, mentioned by someone way up above. Thanks for the other recommendations, everybody. Hare with Amber Eyes has been mentioned to me countless times, but I've never bitten. Now I guess I'll have to. Thanks Eva and others for speaking about it. Sandra, thanks for recommending Celia Blue Johnson's Odd Type Writers; sounds like a hoot. I'm also interested in that Pride & Prejudice annotated edition you mention. And I'm definitely going to get The Elements of F*cking Style, plus recommend it to my comrades in the English Department at Langara College.
I've also read several new books of fiction by men whom I admire: Anthony de Sa's Kicking the Sky, Justin Cartwright's Lion Heart, ER Brown's Almost Criminal, Wayne Johnston's Son of a Certain Woman, to name a few. I love anything by Michelle de Kretser, so will look up her new book, mentioned by someone way up above. Thanks for the other recommendations, everybody. Hare with Amber Eyes has been mentioned to me countless times, but I've never bitten. Now I guess I'll have to. Thanks Eva and others for speaking about it. Sandra, thanks for recommending Celia Blue Johnson's Odd Type Writers; sounds like a hoot. I'm also interested in that Pride & Prejudice annotated edition you mention. And I'm definitely going to get The Elements of F*cking Style, plus recommend it to my comrades in the English Department at Langara College.
To treat myself, I bought the 3-in-1 edition of The Josephine B trilogy because somehow the originals went missing from my bookshelf.
The Husband is into espionage, thrillers, Cold War, and non-fiction so: The Crooked Maid by Dan Vyleta, Come Barbarians by Todd Babiak, An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris, and a whole set of Canadian war history by Mark Zuehlke (Juno Beach et al).
Oh My Darling by Shaena Lambert will be going to a few deserving friends.
The Wind in the Willows published by The Folio Society in the UK, an anniversary edition illustrated by Vancouver artist Charles van Sandwyk. One for a friend, one for myself.
You know, that's the problem with these lists -- you want 2 of everything, one to give away, one for your own library!
The Husband is into espionage, thrillers, Cold War, and non-fiction so: The Crooked Maid by Dan Vyleta, Come Barbarians by Todd Babiak, An Officer and a Spy by Robert Harris, and a whole set of Canadian war history by Mark Zuehlke (Juno Beach et al).
Oh My Darling by Shaena Lambert will be going to a few deserving friends.
The Wind in the Willows published by The Folio Society in the UK, an anniversary edition illustrated by Vancouver artist Charles van Sandwyk. One for a friend, one for myself.
You know, that's the problem with these lists -- you want 2 of everything, one to give away, one for your own library!
I'll have to slip out of this wonderful party, but not before wishing you all the best for the coming Holiday Season. I'm leaving with an impressive list of books I want to read or to give and a sense of what you are all reading.
Thank you, Gail, for hosting this great event.
Happy writing, happy reading. May we all have more time to read for pleasure. Hoping to connect with at least some of you in the coming year.
Eva
Thank you, Gail, for hosting this great event.
Happy writing, happy reading. May we all have more time to read for pleasure. Hoping to connect with at least some of you in the coming year.
Eva
Ever since I went to chef school (2004), I've had a subscription to Cook's Illustrated because that is the cooking magazine professional chefs tend to read and collect. CI doesn't accept advertising so they give you the straight goods on cooking utensils and products. They also deconstruct every recipe they print and run it through that famous "Test Kitchen" you see on PBS. CI has published several baking books. I like this one: "The Cook's Illustrated Baking Book: Baking Demystified With 450 Foolproof Recipes From America's Most Trusted Food Magazine". As you can see, they're not shy about tooting their own horn but they live up to the hype. I know they'd have a great brownie recipe in there.
They also have a "Cook's Illustrated All-Time Best Holiday Baking" magazine on the newstands right now ($9.99) with lots of recipes. Unfortunately no brownie recipes in this issue but lots of chocolate treats like Chocolate Raspberry Torte, Chocolate dipped Pistachio Cookies and Chocolate Butter Cookies. My wife, who rarely cooks, has made several Cook's Illustrated desserts to great acclaim.
They also have a "Cook's Illustrated All-Time Best Holiday Baking" magazine on the newstands right now ($9.99) with lots of recipes. Unfortunately no brownie recipes in this issue but lots of chocolate treats like Chocolate Raspberry Torte, Chocolate dipped Pistachio Cookies and Chocolate Butter Cookies. My wife, who rarely cooks, has made several Cook's Illustrated desserts to great acclaim.
I'd also like to mention my writing group, www.spinwrites.com, and our endeavours. The three of us--June Hutton, Jen Sookfong Lee, and me--have been together since we met in a writer's workshop out at UBC's Booming Ground in 2002. Yup, eleven years ago. By sticking together and encouraging one another, we've managed to produce an impressive array of fiction books.
Jen Sookfong Lee, The End of East (Knopf, 2007)
Mary Novik, Conceit (Doubleday, 2007)
June Hutton, Underground (Cormorant, 2009)
Jen Sookfong Lee, Shelter, YA novel (Annick, 2011)
Jen Sookfong Lee, The Better Mother (Knopf, 2011)
Mary Novik, Muse (Doubleday, 2013)
June is putting the finishing touches on a new novel and Jen is well along in her third adult novel. I'm in the beginning stages of developing a third novel. Yay for writing groups! Any other writing group stories out there you'd like to share?
Jen Sookfong Lee, The End of East (Knopf, 2007)
Mary Novik, Conceit (Doubleday, 2007)
June Hutton, Underground (Cormorant, 2009)
Jen Sookfong Lee, Shelter, YA novel (Annick, 2011)
Jen Sookfong Lee, The Better Mother (Knopf, 2011)
Mary Novik, Muse (Doubleday, 2013)
June is putting the finishing touches on a new novel and Jen is well along in her third adult novel. I'm in the beginning stages of developing a third novel. Yay for writing groups! Any other writing group stories out there you'd like to share?
Well folks, our official party is coming to a close but please, party on! And members, please join us in the salon areas as well any time. Starting next Sunday, we'll have a Sunday morning coffee social for members in the salon area. Watch for the new board ...
I have one last favour to ask of you all. Anyone have favorite links directed at writers from this past year? I'll looking for the hilarious, of course. Two of my favorites:
14 ways to tick off a writer
14 stages of writing a novel
I have one last favour to ask of you all. Anyone have favorite links directed at writers from this past year? I'll looking for the hilarious, of course. Two of my favorites:
14 ways to tick off a writer
14 stages of writing a novel
...and what do I want for Christmas, most? Tales of Anton Chekov – 13 VOLUME SET -- translated by Constance Garnett.
This is at the top of my Christmas list because I've been re-reading all of Alice Munro (started this even before her wonderful Nobel win!) and dipping into Chekov at the same time, but have a very inadequate and badly translated book of his stories. Their work is so often compared -- and indeed it is fascinating to imagine what one of them would do if starting out to write the story of the other. For example, can you imagine what Munro would do with "Lady with a Lap Dog" (not sure I've got that title quite right, but you know what I mean...!) Or for that matter how Chekov would write "Runaway" which I am reading right this moment...? And so on. Anyway, 13 volumes of Chekhov ought to keep me out of trouble for a while!
This is at the top of my Christmas list because I've been re-reading all of Alice Munro (started this even before her wonderful Nobel win!) and dipping into Chekov at the same time, but have a very inadequate and badly translated book of his stories. Their work is so often compared -- and indeed it is fascinating to imagine what one of them would do if starting out to write the story of the other. For example, can you imagine what Munro would do with "Lady with a Lap Dog" (not sure I've got that title quite right, but you know what I mean...!) Or for that matter how Chekov would write "Runaway" which I am reading right this moment...? And so on. Anyway, 13 volumes of Chekhov ought to keep me out of trouble for a while!