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 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.

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 reach the North West 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!

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]

from hispter to hippie: a cautionary tale

Another gem from Flavorpill:



the (other) city

[image via blogTO] 

I've admitted, in confidence, to at least a few of you that I'm a closet 'The City' watcher. Now I guess the cat's out of the bag. I just love that doe-eyed Whitney Port and her fabulous entourage, wardrobe, apartment, cringe-y boyfriends and colleagues, etc etc. but mostly I just love New York. 

Once in a while, in the depths of insomnia or a lonely Sunday night at home, I'll even tune into the Hills or, ahem, The Real Housewives of New Jersey. And I never miss an episode of the Bachelorette (admit you love it too).

Having come to terms with the fact that I'm not too highbrow to revel in such smut, I'm in no position to judge... but, aw what the heck! judge I will: What could new Toronto-based reality series, JacLife, possibly have to offer? I love a good dose of CanCon, but cannot imagine who will make the effort to tune into slice.ca to watch six episodes of socialite-in training, Jaclyn Genovese and her crew as they run a Queen West boutique. Toronto may be Canada's answer to New York, but Queen West is no SoHo. Likewise, running a boutique doesn't rate as high on the intrigue scale as, say running a tattoo parlor or promoting a global brand like Diane VonFurstenberg. 

Here's what blogTO has to say about it:

Some more riveting scenes already in the can: Jaclyn in her fabulous bathroom brushing her teeth! Jaclyn in her fabulous store vacuuming the carpet! Jaclyn in her fabulous loft eating cereal! Basically all the things you and I do everyday, but more interesting cause she's rich.

If you'd like to give JacLife the benefit of the doubt (and think you can handle it without barraging the screen with snide remarks), watch the teaser here.