Some Bookish Questions & Enquiring Minds

It's been an interesting week thus far and I am certainly enjoying the weather. It's been so nice to see sunshine instead of rain, although we'll be getting more of that this weekend apparently. I went to Toronto yesterday to visit the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum) and to a French Restaurant (Le Papillon) and enjoyed myself tremendously; I always enjoy the dinosaur exhibit and the modern art exhibits. I will be taking my children there this summer as they are now old enough to really appreciate these types of activities.


Last night I had a dream where I was attacked by a book again. I think I am taking on too much, both at work and with reading, especially if it's entering my dreams. Reading is a necessary activity for me every day, but when books are entering my dreams as monsters, I think that's a sign to back off a little bit and destress. My kids thought the dream was hilarious as they know how important reading is to me. My son even suggest I write a story about it, something I have given serious thought. A little side note, I was secretly proud of the fact my son got in trouble yesterday for reading during Math class. He had the book hidden under his Math book and was sneaking in the reading whenever the teacher turned her back. Okay, I realize he should not have been doing that, but at the same time he's following in his momma's footsteps and I was sort of proud about that. He got the book taken away for the rest of the day and was upset because he had to wait until last night before he could find out what happened. Boy, do I remember those days!!!! It was on the tip of my tongue to counsel him to learn to be sneakier, but I guess that would have been wrong and he will just have to learn the sneakiness on his own. (It's a good thing he doesn't read these right now.)

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Question:
Do you read books “meant” for other age groups? Adult books when you were a child; Young-Adult books now that you’re grown; Picture books just for kicks … You know … books not “meant” for you. Or do you pretty much stick to what’s written for people your age?

Answer:
It's funny, but until I was older I never thought of books in terms of children or adult. When I went to the library I just read whatever took my fancy. I was an avid/gifted reader and reading anything was never a problem for me; I could easily read a dozen novels in a week. I did have to re-read some novels as an adult however, as I did not fully understand some of the innuendos of what I was reading until I was older. Flowers in the Attic is an example as I read the novel when I was ten years old, but definitely did not grasp some of the sexual connotations until I re-read it several years later and went, "Oh, so that's what that means!" When I did my Masters degree, I had to analyse some children's picture books in terms of their post-modernism and some of the ones I found were extremely difficult to analyse and were definitely not created with children in mind, even according to the authors themselves. I hate to categorize and label books and especially hate being told to read what people call 'adult' books. Reading is reading!!!!

Enquiring Minds is hosted by Dollycas's Thoughts.

Question 1: What is your favourite thing to do on a sunny bright spring day?

Anything as long as it doesn't involve going to work. I could happily spend time at the trailer, sitting on the deck, reading. I could work in the garden, go for a walk, go to the park, anything as long as it is outdoors and involves enjoying the fresh air. After a brutally long and snowy winter, these days are especially welcome.

Question 2: What is your favourite colour?

RED! Bright, eye-popping red.   And ORANGE!

Question 3: Do you have a favourite month of the year?

Not really. I like them all for different reasons.  I love July and August because I am on holidays and who doesn't like being on holidays.  I love my job and what I do, but man, do I love my holidays!!!  I always enjoy December,...well, it's Christmas.  And we always travel during March Break to the Caribbean so that's enjoyable.  I'm not necessarily fond of November as I find it dreary and long, but I do celebrate my anniversary during that month so there's at least something to look forward to. 

Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

It's Time to Get Personal Again!!

Enquiring Minds Want to Know!!

1. Have you ever traveled outside of Canada?
I have travelled quite a bit outside of Canada.  I have been to Mexico several times, to Jamaica, to Dominican Republic.  I did an exchange to France when I was in high school, plus I have travelled to Europe on different excursions.  I have been to Scotland, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Croatia.  I have also travelled quite extensively in the United States.  I am supposed to be going to Italy next year.


2. If you could pack up today on a vacation and money was no issue where would you go?
That's a no-brainer.  Everywhere!!!

3. Is there somewhere in Canada that you have never been that you would like to visit?
I would love to go to British Columbia as I have never been.  We're planning on going in the next few years, but we'll see how it goes.  My family has a goal and we've been trying to meet it.  We have a map of Canada and the United States posted in our office and our goal is to visit each state in the United States and each province in Canada.  So far we have been to Florida, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington D.C., Maryland, and Michigan.  As a family, we have only travelled through Ontario, although both my husband and I have travelled through Quebec and many of the eastern provinces. 

Booking Through Thursday

Hosted by: Booking Through Thursday

Series? Or stand-alone books?
It really depends.  There are some series I absolutely love.  Jeaniene Frost's novels come to mind as well as Ayla and Jondalar's story in the Earth Children's series.  There are some I got tired of pretty quickly and have a really hard time going back to, even though I have heard it's worth picking them up again.  An example of this is The Wheel of Time series.  I got stuck somewhere in the middle of Book 7 and haven't read any since then.  I also had a hard time with Richard and Kahlan's story as I couldn't handle seeing them get into so much trouble all of the time.  It got to the point where I wanted to see them be happy.  And there are some I will never continue as they just got worse over time and it's time to pack it in.

I also adore stand-alone books too.  Sometimes it's nice to read something knowing there's only going to be one book and that's it.  It's a break from the series and trilogies and I don't have to wait years waiting for the next book to be published.  Besides, some books are never meant to have sequels.

Enquiring Minds Want to Know

Enquiring Minds Want to Know

Enquiring Minds Want to Know is a weekly meme hosted by Dollycas's Thoughts whereby we get to know each other a little better.  Different questions are posted each week on her blog, and all you need to do is answer them and share your thoughts.

1. Did you watch the Super Bowl? If yes, which part did you like the best, the game, the halftime show, the commercials and did you notice the mistake made with the National Anthem?

I don't watch the Super Bowl as I am not a football fan.  It's never been something I've been interested in and even growing up as a child, my dad followed soccer instead or sometimes hockey.  Football was not something we ever watched. 

2. I joined a new meme this week called "Monday's Music Moves Me", this month's theme is love songs, Do you have a favorite love song?

I love the song "When I'm With You" by Sheriff.  It was also my wedding song.  They are a Canadian band and I believe they only released one album.  The song just reminds me of our early days of our marriage.  It also makes my husband all sappy and I love that.

3. How many blog challenges have you entered this year?

At last count, it was around 15 or so.  I'm addicted to challenges and to reading.  I promised myself I would limit the challenges to around eight and I didn't stick to my guns at all.   I had to use all of my willpower not to join any mini-challenges this month as well.  What's a poor, addicted to challenges, book-loving girl to do? 

Enquiring Minds Want to Know

I really enjoy this meme as it gives me a chance to talk about myself, something I don't often do.  I tend to be somewhat of a private person in nature, but I don't mind sharing SOME things about my life and what I like and dislike.  I do spend a lot of time on the computer, blogging and for work, and I do like reading other blog posts when people talk about their rants and raves and what they like to do or not do or when they do things that are embarrassing or funny.  It's always interesting to read the more personal sides to bloggers.

Enquiring Minds Want to Know

Check out Dollycas's Thoughts for some other fun answers to the following questions!

Question #1:  What is the outside temperature where you are today?


It is a balmy -12 °C or 10 °F.   That is a lot better than the -21 °C  t was this morning, with a wind chill of -31°C.

Question #2:  Do you participate in any winter sports or hobbies like skiing or snowmobiling, etc?

I used to be an avid downhill skiier until I fell on a black diamond several years ago trying to be a good samaritan and wrecked my knee.  I have since had surgery and while my knee is healthy I am afraid to ski.  It's a psychological thing only and I probably just need to fall again in order to realize it was a once in a lifetime fluke, but I can't help feeling totally paranoid about the whole thing.  Sometimes the whole fall/scenario replays in my mind and it freaks me out.  My kids are also avid skiers, and we live within twenty minutes of two great ski hills and forty minutes from two others so my kids have been skiing since they were small.  They have been clamouring to go so I will just have to grit my teeth and tackle that hill again.  (with my eyes closed!!)


Question #3:  If you had to choose between a week long stay in a mountain lodge with lots of snow, activities, friends, food and beverages or a week alone on a deserted white sand island with just a bag of books and food and water which would you choose?

While the mountain lodge sounds appealing, the snow certainly doesn't anymore.  I'm sorry to say I would pack my bags, my books, and whatever else I needed and would be gone on the next flight out of here and be on the beach as soon as possible.  Alone?  Never a problem.  I am a mom with two kids and a demanding job.  Being alone for a week would be a gift and I would treasure it, even if I would miss my family terribly.   I have no problems being alone as long as I have my books.

Enquiring Minds Want to Know

Enquiring Minds Want to Know is a weekly meme hosted by Dollycas's Thoughts that I thought would be fun in which to participate.  Due to the nature of my job (and my husband's too), I tend to keep pretty strick guidelines around my privacy and the privacy of my family and I think that somewhat limits the free nature of my blog as there are some things which I cannot reveal or discuss openly on here.  So when I see a meme like this where I can participate I like to join in as it's fun!

Every Thursday, she will post several questions that you answer, and then link back to her page so share with everyone.

Here are today's questions:

Did you get what you wanted for Christmas?

All I wanted for Christmas this year was a Kobo ereader and yes, I did get it.  I received enough gift certificates from Chapters that I was able to purchase the ereader and I was super excited.  The lady at the counter was amazed I had so many gift certificates so that I didn't have to pay anything, even the dreaded H.S.T.  I'm even going back today to pick up the cover as they finally got some new ones in.  I'm going to spend some time today playing with it as I haven't been able to (I just got back from the in-laws and I haven't been able to set it up as of yet) and I have a number of books to download from Adobe Digital Editions.  I can't wait!

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?

Of course!  And pretty much break them all by the first week.  I've set up some more doable resolutions this year.  I've already started to get back in shape after my ACL surgery so that one should be pretty attainable.  I'm taking it slow and working towards three days/week rather than the six I used to do.  I'm taking up Kung Fu this summer which should also be pretty attainable as the rest of my family is already involved in Martial Arts.  And the rest are reading goals.  I've pretty much neglected my love of Fantasy/Science Fiction this past year so I've decided to rekindle that as well as focus again on Historical Fiction as I absolutely love that genre.  I've also put a lot of energy into my blog and I can't keep doing that as my job and my life are just too busy.  I'm going to have to reprioritize.  I also need to read more for fun instead of always for reviewing as I find myself not always wanting to read which is not like me at all.  It's time to pull some of those books off the wish list instead of the review pile and rekindle that reading magic.

How will you spend New Year's Eve and New Year's Day this year?

We were going to go out, but I'm exhausted from all of the travelling and visiting so we're staying home.  It will be fun to spend some quiet time together, play some family games (maybe Catan), watch a movie, and just relax.  Unfortunately, New Year's Day I will probably be doing work as I go back on Monday and need to get ready for that.  January is incredibly busy.  Of course, I will probably sneak in some reading time during the day as I do every day of the week. 

Either way, I am ready for 2011.  Are you?