Canada Day
Summer reading and a new Canine Assistant
Happy Canada Day to all who celebrate!
Canadians are serious about this holiday. Fireworks and barbecues. Leaping into the lake or wading into the sea, depending on your location. Gathering with friends and family to raise a glass and welcome the beginning of proper summer. For some of us, there are moments of deep gratitude for the peace, order, and good government we enjoy here. For our rule of law and our functional democracy. For our diversity. For our social safety net, which may be frayed in places but still remains intact. We are a fortunate people.
One of the things I’m celebrating this July 1st is the successful recruitment of a new Canine Assistant (see photo above). George, a four-year old French bulldog, is settling in nicely and performing his duties with enthusiasm. He is snoring beside me as a write.
Summer Reading, Summer Writing
Summer is season of reading for me, and also of writing. Having wrapped the tour for City of the Muse, I’m into another cycle of edits for Put It to Bed, the third mystery in the Quill & Packet series.
I’ve been collecting an enormous stack of books over the past few months in preparation for summer reading season. Here are some of the Canadian titles on my list:
Cherry Beach by Don Gillmor. I loved Don’s 2018 memoir To the River. Cherry Beach is a noir-ish mystery set in Toronto’s east end, and as we all know, my reading life is incomplete without some crime fiction. As an added bonus, Don and I live in the same part of the city, the setting for this novel. I’m looking forward to seeing it through his eyes.
Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall. I had the pleasure of doing a few tour dates with Heather this spring, while we were promoting City of the Muse and Liberty Street. I gushed so much about Liberty Street during one event that a reader came up and gave me her copy of Heather’s previous novel, Looking for Jane.
The King’s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley. I’ve been a fan of Susanna’s work for many years, and finally got to meet her when she moderated one of my tour events. She’s brilliant, and reminded me that we need mentorship as writers at every stage in our careers.
The Mind Mappers by Eric Andrew-Gee. As a therapist, neuroscience is an abiding interest of mine. It’s also a fact that I lived in a university residence on Montreal’s mountain during my McGill years and walked past the Neuro every day. So this tale of Penfield and Cone’s revolution in the study of the brain, and the complexity of their personal relationship, is exactly what the doctor ordered for my non-fiction reading list.
And while we’re on the subject of summer reading, City of the Muse, Bury the Lead, and Widows and Orphans are all great books to add to your summer reading list! City of the Muse had terrific reviews in the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail recently, to my everlasting delight.
Happy reading!
Kate x