The Book Broads

(Kim here) Spring. Gardening books. I cannot wait to get my hands on No Guff Vegetable Gardening by Donna Balzer and Steven Biggs.

I think one of the authors is dropping one off soon. I have my garden primed and eager to get started on getting herbs and vegetables in it! Every year I get a new gardening book. New beginnings and it will carry me through the summer.

(Angela here) The lazy days of summer are just around the corner and I always turn to some light reading. Stuff that can be read in the backyard or at the pool. That’s likely to include Julie Garwood, Nora Roberts and Jan Karon as well as some YA novels like Carol Anne Shaw’s Hannah and the Spindle Whirl.

(Peg here) This is usually the time of year when I want to redecorate. Again. But better than last time. With stuff I really like. With planning and good judgement. With actual taste and style. Usually, I end up buying new dishcloths and it seems to stifle any healthy urge I have for change. But, I read plenty of decorating books before I get to that point. A perennial fave (no pun intended, Kim) is Christopher Lowell’s 7 Layers of Design. He’s a really smart guy who explains things extremely well.

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(Kim here) I am getting weepy just thinking about it. I loved The Bobbsy Twins. Those crazy kids! Bert and Nan, the older of two sets of fraternal twins, and Flossie and Freddie, the younger twins. Lots of adventure, some crime solving and great pictures. Lovely reads.

(Angela here) Finally an easy answer! The oldest book in my collection is one I’ve had since I was 2 years old… The House at Pooh Corner. My copy was a gift from family friends and the adventures of Christopher Robin and his friends are timeless.

(Peg here) Gotta be Stuart Little. A few years ago when my parents cleared out their house, my brother Matthew stole my copy and I was forced to buy a new one from a garage sale. (Are you listening you little weasel?) The newer editions don’t have the original illustrations. I must have read that book hundreds of times, or perhaps had it read to me hundreds of times. I was so passionate about the idea of miniaturization. At one point, I wanted to move into a bookshelf in the living room and make myself a bed out of a matchbox. I had cleared shelf space and started to hang postage stamps as pictures when my mother patiently explained to me that it would never happen. I’m still not sure I believe her.

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(Kim here) Man, Angela! You are making these HARD! Guilty? I guess diet books and exercise books. I always feel guilty about those. So many to choose from.

(Angela here) Sorry, Kim! For me it’s parenting books that make me feel guilty. All that you should, you outta, you must advice that will determine my child’s entire future drives me crazy. So much so that with only a few exceptions (including the fabulous Ann Douglas) I don’t read parenting books anymore. My son is happy, healthy and loved. His academic future is bright and his social skills are terrific. That’s enough for me so I’ll just carry on bring a great Mum and stop wasting time on guilt-inducing books and instead spend more time with my kid.

(Peg here) Well, I feel pretty guilty every time I read my horoscope. Clearly, I’m not maximizing my full potential.

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(Kim here) Humour all the way! I want to win a Stephen Leacock award. Dream big Kim! Stephen Leacock’s middle name is Butler. Which is my Mom’s family name. In our family tree, Stephen Butler Leacock sits on a branch. He and I have some history. I have always thought that I got his sense of humour. What a great guy to be like! I have first editions of his work and I am so proud of them!

(Peg here) Well Kim, a relationship to Stephen Leacock explains plenty about you. You *are* an extremely funny person. And, you write well. May I learn from you? I could be your grasshopper, and you could dress like Yoda and sit on a rock all day by a waterfall. You could even have a pet cobra. It would be awesome.

A book in the style I would write might be something like Freya Stark’s books about her travels in the Middle East. Her stories are written as her firsthand accounts as the first European (and a woman!) to explore many parts of Beirut, Iran, and other areas nearby. She writes in that florid, English style of the 1930’s, using all the richness that the English language has to offer. And the fact that her descriptions are of her own experiences makes for very detailed and interesting reading.

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(Kim here) Harry Potter series? I could use the cash and fame. No? OK. I think I wish I could have done the Fancy Nancy books.

I love the stories. The character is cheeky, cute and knows exactly who she is. The illustrations are great too. I want a Fancy Nancy movie. Maybe they could be fancy playing Quidditch and solving mysteries. A Fancy Nancy / Harry Potter mashup.

(Peg here) A book that I wish I could take credit for might be the dictionary. I mean really, what’s cooler than having your own language? Wouldn’t that be a great excuse, if your mother called, and you weren’t in the mood to talk to her, you could just respond, “Wuffle puk toonar imoma?” And she would have no idea what that meant, and hang up. Perhaps I should write my own language. Has anyone besides Tolkien actually done that? Oh wait – Klingon. OK, but I can do it again. Then, I’ll write a dictionary of my language. What a great idea! I wish I’d thought of this ten years ago.

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(Kim here)

Dr. Matt makes me laugh out loud! His books are great and his tweets and Facebook posts make ROTFL. (I sound cool using that huh?). Just Stop Having Problems, Stupid! The Anti-Self-Help Guide and When It Comes To Relationships, You’ve Been An Idiot. Dr. Matt is the most famous fake doctor of our time, possibly due in part to the fact that, to my knowledge, no other person has aspired to gain that title.

Dr. Matt quotes from last week that made me laugh:

Always look on the bright side of life. Whatever you do, for Pete’s sake, DON’T LOOK AT THE OTHER SIDE.

Or

We tend to have short memories when it comes to our success. Begin to collect evidence. If necessary, fabricate some.

(Angela here) Now that I’ve stopped laughing over those Dr. Matt quotes, I can tell you my laugh out loud pick is the writing of Paul Reiser … Couplehood and Babyhood are both books that made me chuckle.

(Peg here) I’m just now reading Tina Fey’s Bossypants. She is freakin’ brilliant. I bought the special edition for iPad with embedded audio, and it makes me laugh even harder hearing it read in her own voice, hearing where she pauses and where she reads more quickly. But her comedy doesn’t rely on timing. It relies on parallels to our own lives. If I was thinner, shorter, and Greek, I really think I would be a lot like Tina Fey. Or not.

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(Kim here) Since I am already married, I am past that. What I wish I had read at my wedding was a passage from Erma Bombeck.

She had wit and wisdom and our wedding was goofy and it would have fit in nicely. I love this quote from her:

“Marriage has no guarantees. If that’s what you’re looking for, go live with a car battery.” -Erma Bombeck

(Peg here) Erma Bombeck would have been a close call for our wedding, let me tell you. Geoff suggested Shakespeare at the time, something including “She should have died hereatfer.” 20 years later, I have still not forgiven him for that. So, the next time I get married, I will choose the poetry. Perhaps something like Max Ehrman’s “Desiderata”, which hangs on my office wall. Nothing mushy, just solid advice for life.

(Angela here) Interesting…I’ll have to check with my parents but I think “Desiderata” was read at their wedding. As for me, I love the passage from Gift from the Sea that was read at my wedding. If Paul & I were to walk down the aisle again today, I’d add the poem “How Do I Love Thee?”

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(Kim here) I do not like being sad and when I am , I tend to watch movies. Tear-jerker movies. Books that allow me to wallow in sadness are Jodi Picoult books. I enjoy them, they have big issues and I find it helps me get into perspective.

(Peg here) Actually, I find when I’m sad that I prefer to write rather than read. The first couple of chapters of my secret keep-it-in-the-bottom-drawer fantasy novel have had some work since my father passed a short time ago. The total distraction of creating, rather than consuming as I do when reading, has proven over the years to be quite therapeutic and very constructive. So even though this novel may actually be so awful as to never be worthy of publication, it will still have served its purpose.

(Angela here) My relationship with books is one of the ways that I realize I’m sad. When I’m feeling low, I can’t settle on something to read. I pick something up and put it down and move down the shelf and do it again and again and again. Sometimes I’ll get into one of my comic strip collections – Adam or Betty or Rose is Rose or For Better or for Worse – but even then I don’t settle in to read the book cover to cover.

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When I am happy I read a magazine. Generally Chatelaine or Canadian Living. I love our Canadian mags… and they are very positive. I also love reading Real Simple. It is a happy read for a happy time. I love reading the recipes and getting inspired! Canadian Living also featured my wedding in the May issue of 2001. It was fun!

(Peg here) Usually a cookbook like Julia Child’s, with plenty of classic recipes and old-fashioned goodness. Makes me feel like taking the time to make something worthwhile, especially with my daughter.

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(Kim here)How not to kill your husband…. No, not a book? Should be. I think when I am angry, it would probably be a parenting book. When am mad, it tends to be at my kids. Frustrated about how I dealt with a situation. I always turn to Dr. Michele Borba books. She puts me on a new path. I can hear her voice telling me it will be ok and I do better next time. Move on and be better – the mother’s mantra.

(Angela here)

‘Tis the gift to be simple
‘Tis the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down where we out to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
Twill be in the valley of love and delight

That’s a Shaker Hymn called ‘Tis a Gift to Be Simple and in my Christmas decorations box I have a lovely illustrated gift book edition of this classic.  When I’m angry I, sometimes, turn to this book (or sing the song in my head) to remind me what’s important … the simple things in life and often the thing that makes me angry doesn’t seem so bad anymore.

(Peg here) Hmmmm, probably something that doesn’t require me to focus too much. Something like Vogue magazine with pretty pictures. Usually a perfume strip helps me to calm down.

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