2010 books

It was a slower year for books (compared to 2009 and 2008, at least) but it was a year of really GOOD books... minus a couple embarrassing anomalies.
Here goes:

January
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Knit Two by Kate Jacobs
B is for Beer by Tom Robbins

February
Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

March
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

April
The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

May
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

June
Home by Marilyn Robinson
Four Souls by Louise Erdrich

July
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

August
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

September
Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga

October
Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi

November
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

December
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
The History of Love by Nicole Kraus
On Chesil Beach by Ian MacEwan


Because I only got polished off 21 books, it would hardly seem selective to share my top ten, so in the next week or so I'll narrow it down to my top six. Watch this space.

For my top picks from previous years, check out Best of 2009, and Best of 2008.

America the Beautiful

As Canadians moving to the United States, Dean and I certainly had some reservations. Americans often assume Canadians are just cold-resistant versions of themselves. But, in my experience, there's that hard-to-define Canadian frame of mind that makes us different: a bit cynical but open-minded, friendly but reserved, passionate but peaceful, and liberal but conservative.

We worried that Americans wouldn't get our politics, that they understood a different brand of Christianity that gives our faith a bad name, that they would think we're weird for taking our shoes off indoors.

More on these topics later.

One thing we never worried about was the incredible beauty and diversity of our new home. Driving across middle America was such a treat. Wyoming and South Dakota won our hearts with their unabashed rawness, their oversized dinner portions, and their remarkable landscapes.

We made up stories along the way. Each night at dinner we'd imagine what job we'd do if we lived in that town, who our friends would be, and what we'd do for fun. It's a game I highly recommend for your next road trip.

left coast

After a full month in Seattle, I think it's fair to say we are settled.

There were things we LOVED about our nine months in Toronto (our little city home, our amazingneighbourhood, a few lovely friends), but more than anything I missed being fully integrated in a community of loved ones. Though we've never lived in Seattle, we are enjoying at least two or three evenings a week in the company of really wonderful friends—people who share our passions (God, literature, Mexican food, microbrews, reality TV, to name a few). We've also had two quick visits to Vancouver to celebrate milestones with friends and family. It is amazing.

And while many people have balked at our loooong car journey westward, getting here was almost as fun as being here. Dean and I spent six days on the road, with stops at previously mythical spots like Omaha, Wall Drug, Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park (actual film photos forthcoming). We reached the west coast on All Hallows Eve. I spent the next four weeks elbow deep in a backlog of writing and editing projects and am now enjoying a blissfully slow week of housekeeping (both the business and traditional variety).

Now that things have slowed down a bit, I'll be writing much more often. In the meantime, here are a couple of recent projects for your reading pleasure:

The Gentle Cycle - a short tale of life in north east Scotland, accompanied by a photo from Dean

I Facebook, Therefore I Am - a cheeky and not-at-all-deep reflection on my relationship with Facebook

Trinity Western Magazine no.19 - I serve as External Editor and occasional feature writer for this beautiful bi-annual publication

farewell gift.

This gorgeous clear crisp day is making me sad to leave Toronto, but oh! the west coast is calling. Dean and I are doing a pretty good job of crossing items off our TO to-do list (see update below).

We leave a week from today and will arrive in Seattle one more week after that. We're making the move into a wee holiday/adventure, taking the drive a little slower, with exciting stops at Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone Park—two places I have always wanted to visit.

Normally the last week before a move is spent frantically tracking down boxes and stuffing them haphazardly to the gills. Instead I'm up to my ears in (really fun) work. One minute I'm trying to put beautiful folk music into words, the next I'm writing about the drizzle in Scotland, and still the next I'm describing one of coolest educational buildings I've ever seen. Freelancing was a great move. Not a minute of regret thus far! Also, we owe a HUGE debt of thanks to Dean's new employer, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, for arranging our move for us and taking all the stress/work out of it.

And because I'm in a generally happy state of mind, here's a little gift, in the form of First Aid Kit, from me to you!

two week list

Forgive the cliche, but it really does feel like just yesterday we were packing up the Chapel and saying goodbye to Oxford. Now we're in the same spot again, wrapping up nine months in Toronto, and oh-so excited to start life on the West Coast.

It's around this time in any move when I start to get some early nostalgia for the place I'm living. Before we left the UK, I put together a one-month list—all the things I wanted to see and do in London/Oxford before we left for good. I'm two weeks behind on this (yes, we leave Toronto in two weeks, today), but nevertheless, I've put together a little list of things I'd be remiss to leave without doing in my last month in the T-dot. Notably, they mostly involve food! Three down, nine to go!


1. Visit the AOG and MOCCA

2. Eat Korean (and we both enjoyed it SO much we're going back for our last night in town!)

3. Purchase upholstery fabric at Designer Fabrics to re-cover the seat of my favourite armchair

4. Tour the Steamwhistle brewery

5. See a show (Circle Eloize at the Sony Centre - wonderful!)

6. Brunch at Bonjour Brioche

7. Brunch at Cafe Marmalade  (fruit and yogurt-filled buckwheat crepe and fresh OJ)

8. Lunch at the Drake Corner Cafe

9. Visit Union Station

10. Stroll through the leaves in High Park

11. Tour Casa Loma

12. Purchase item from 69 Vintage (or other fabulous TO vintage shop)  (lovely pleated navy polka dot skirt at Common Sort)

Strombo-thon

Like most Canadians, I have a love-hate relationship with Canadian broadcasting. I firmly believe Canada needs our own media and will defend the need for more funding and even for regulation... but (confession) I'd sooner watch Two and a Half Men (which, Dean will attest, I believe indicates the low American comedy has hit) than sit through any CTV-produced sitcom.

One thing we DO do well north of the border is current events, and no Canadian, regardless of their political leaning, will dispute that George Stroumboulopoulos sets the standard for great late night talk. We love him. He and Peter Mansbridge. They can do no wrong.

Yesterday Jess Janz and I scored ourselves front row seats at George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight (formerly The Hour). While Toronto is in the throes of TIFF and some people are cruising King Street hoping to brush up against celebrity outside the LightBox, I prefer to get all my fame in one place.

The epic six-hour multi-episode taping featured interviews with all of the following:
Paul Giamatti
Rosamund Pike
Jason Priestly
Zach Braff
Edward Norton (!!!)
Errol Morris
Gene Simmons + Shannon Tweed
Jill Hennesy

Holy cannoli! It was quite the lineup. The crew of Gene Simmons' Family Jewels were even on set, so be sure to watch for our chuckling mugs in a future episode.


[image via Toronto Star]