June marked the first edition of Shelf Life, and July the second, so with August I bring you the third collection of brief notes on what I read this month.

You’ll notice this month’s list has gone up in a much more timely fashion. This time I took my own advice and wrote these notes as I went along. Much easier to remember and comment on the content of what I’m reading as I go, rather than long after the fact.

Some good stuff stands out this month, among them The Lacuna, and, surprisingly, The Chairs Are Where the People Go.

Onward:

80. One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A book club pick.  We’re trying, in fits and starts, to make our way through a list of “30 books everyone should read before 30″. There are various incarnations of the list, but most include overlapping titles, so we pick randomly from the list, as we’re all still below that dooméd age. So far the results have not been overly gratifying.

A family saga told from the founding of a town in an undisclosed South American country in an undisclosed province, to its ultimate destruction – both of family and town. At the end of the book a baby is killed and carried away by an army of aunts.

It has gypsies, flying carpets, revolutionaries, war, lots of sex and an obscure mysticism. It should be a deeply interesting book, but it’s not. Instead it was universally “mehed” by the group. We’re switching back to CanCon for September’s pick. Continue reading »

The latest issue of Witches & Pagans, # 23, summer 2011, contains my review of Where Do Demons Live?, by Frater U.: D.:

Witches & Pagans is an alternative spirituality magazine with a focus on nature based religions, especially on Wicca and Paganism.

The theme of this issue is “Law & Chaos”, and contains a great interview with Pagan police officer Kerr Cuhulain, as well as an article and interview with Patrick McCollum (pictured on the cover), a Pagan chaplain and activist for the rights of prison inmates to practice their faith. On the chaos side, there’s an interview with Peter Carroll, Jaq D Hawkins, and Andrieh Vitimus.

It’s a great issue, if you’re interested, you can subscribe here.

Happy Canada Day, kids! I love it when it falls on a Friday and we get an extra long weekend in the summer.

I mentioned yesterday how I’d like to get more social in regards to books and reading – normally such a solitary activity – so I’m going to try a new series I’m calling Shelf Life.

Each month I’ll post brief notes and reviews of the books I’ve read, and solicit recommendations from you guys.

June was an eclectic month, reading everything from cookbooks to novels to poetry. A couple of humour books, and two graphic novels which did not live up to their potential.

Yes, it is possible to read a cookbook.

56. Gourmet Preserves Chez Madelaine, by Madelaine Bullwinkel
I’m rather inexperienced when it comes to making jams, jellies and preserves – in fact, I wasn’t clear on the difference between those three terms before I read Gourmet Preserves. I didn’t know how to tell if a batch has reached its gel point. Or what that even meant. I’d made exactly one jelly before, and I required my hand to be held throughout the entire process. It turns out it’s not actually that hard.

The introductory chapters give clear step-by-step instructions for everything you need to know to make preserves work, and the recipes are delicious. I’ve tried three so far: two batches of strawberry jam, a rhubarb and fig jam, and a blueberry jam – all came out fabulously.

57. A Storm of Swords & 58. A Feast for Crows, both by George R R Martin
I read the first two books, A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings, in May, and they were followed closely by the final two books in print so far (the fifth volume, A Dance with Dragons, comes out in July).

Initially I began the first one to prepare myself for the show (which was excellent). I’m not a huge fan of fantasy, but this series largely revolves around political intrigue at court with an extensive cast of characters who can – and do – die.

Ok, ok, there are hints of wights and, eventually, dragons, but they take backstage to war, betrayal, honour and, above all, complex characters worth knowing. I’m hooked.

59. A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan
It’s billed as a novel, but it’s really more a series of linked short stories spanning several decades. Characters weave in and, more often, out. Narrator changes; point of view changes from first, to third and, yes, even second. One story is told through PowerPoint. The concluding tale is kind of sci-fi speculative fiction. It’s crazy.

It won this year’s Pulitzer Prize. I’m not sure how much that means. Prizes are notoriously inconsistent and given for various reasons, but I enjoyed Goon Squad. A very different sort of book. Continue reading »