Reading Goal List for 2012

There are a lot of classics I haven't even touched so my list is going to lean heavily in that department. Please feel free to leave recommendations:

1. The Book of Negroes
2. Crime and Punishment
3. A Tale of Two Cities
4. Great Expectations
5. Madame Bovary (in French)
6. Chicken With Plums by Marjane Satrapi
7. Something by Chabon...either The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay or the Yiddish Policemen's Union
8. The Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro
9. Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan (2011's Giller prize winner)
10. The Quiet American by Graham Greene
11. Of Mice and Men
12. The Grapes of Wrath
13. War and Peace
14. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich or Hitler's Scientists
15. The English Patient
16. Far From the Maddening Crowd by Thomas Hardy

It's going to be a heavy year in reading!!

Books read in 2011

Here's my list...wish it was longer!

1. Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
2. Kids are Worth It by Barbara Coloroso
3. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
4. The Brother's Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother by Amy Chua
7. Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
8. The Entitlement Trap by Linda and Richard Eyre
9. The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman
10. Sula by Toni Morrison
11. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
12. Born Standing Up by Steve Martin
13. An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
14. Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
15. Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
16. hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen

I think there may be more but I didn't keep very good track, will update if need be. The Russians were by far my favorite. And the Italian was amazing as usual.

IDEAS...Say no to Happiness?

Is an excellent radio program on the CBC. I subscribe to the podcast and have been obsessed with many an episode. Calvin was a little worried after I listened to a series that inspired me to wear pants to church. But perhaps more on that later. This particular episode seemed appropriate to post because Gretchen Rubin, the author of the Happiness project (which I enjoyed btw) is interviewed. Even though the theme of the show is exploring why her project may not be the best pursuit, she still comes across very well, thoughtful and compelling. I was interested in the idea that life is about more than just being happy. The idea of happiness is a mysterious one. What does it mean to be happy and if "men are that the might have joy"...what do we make of a life that has more sorrowful and blue periods than sunshiney ones. Surely a life devoid of happiness isn't useless, is it? But as Rubin talks about in her book, isn't choosing happiness more challenging than being heavy and depressed at times? I thought this was a very thought provoking show..take a listen at:

http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2011/06/20/say-no-to-happiness/

Silver Road/ CANCON

Today my dear friend Jess reminded me of our mutual love of Sarah Harmer. She is so quintessentially Canadian to me. and I just love Canada! And I miss jess so much. Wish we could drive around blasting cancon music (Jann Arden! and maybe include some Bette Midler) together.

here is a list of memories associated with Sarah Harmer:

1. Listening to Basement Apartment when Jess and I lived in a basement apartment in Calgary near the University



2. Driving somewhere in Vancouver when Jess and I were roommates in North Van. I was bawling my eyes out because of one of the songs...why can't I remember which song it was now?? Oh yeah.."Don't get your back up over this"



haha love the comments underneath about all the radio time it got in Southern Ontario

3. Going to Emily Solsberg's wedding in Nanaimo and was there not a live performance of "Open Window (The Wedding Song)? Here is a Feist cover of the song:



and the Calvin and I had the original in our wedding video.



4. Moving back to Toronto after 18 months in Vancouver and missing Vancouver so so much. I listened to this song over and over:



5. Driving around east Toronto in my mom's black Honda Civic listening to this:

I love the French!

I was peaking at a friend's blog and a while back she posted about this band. I liked them right away.

YELLE - Safari Disco Club / Que veux-tu (exclusive full length edit) from Yelle on Vimeo.

Feist

I think Pooch introduced me to Feist many many many years ago. I love the song that you get a hear a bit of when you go to her website. Here is one of my favourite videos ever:



Check out her website at listentofeist.com

A Song for Shona!

She & Him - Don't Look Back from Merge Records on Vimeo.