My week off in Toronto

Here are some pictures of what I was up to during my "hiatus" last week!

We took our bikes to the Toronto Islands (and my parents rented bikes) for a gorgeous 20km ride!!

We went to the Don Valley Brick Works-now known as the Evergreen Brick Works. again super hot day!! We had a really fun time watching the million little fish swarm and jump out of the water trying to get bits of food.

I had a picture from the Dragon Boat Festival but somehow it went away and Blogger is giving me and my pictures a VERY HARD TIME!

Some other things we did while my parents were visiting:

• got pedicures (well just my mom and me)
• went shopping to Vaughan Mills
• walked down the waterfront
• walked past all the crazy fencing (while we were still allowed to be in the area)
• went bowling
• played bocce ball
• drove up to north york for burgers before my baseball game which ended up being canceled because it was POURING rain!
• ate out at a vegetarian restaurant, thai-vietnamese, italian/pizza, and a steakhouse
• drank beer, wine, and a gross recreation of a delicious shot we had one time at the James Joyce
• watched the World Cup (while drinking the above)
• chatted

GOOD TIMES!!!

Friday Fill-Ins: Vacation

I came across this neat meme (not actually sure what that word means by the way) the other day. So I'm going to try it out! It's called Friday Fill-Ins. It's kind of like mad libs-they give you some info and you fill in the rest!! I will be using RED FONT to fill in the blanks.

1. On vacation, I like to sleep in and read books!
2. I get welts on my body when I swim in the ocean.
3. One of my favorite vacation spots Lake of the Woods!!!
4. Tonight there is a full moon.
5. Up, up and away we go!
6. Bananas in pajamas are running down the stairs.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to eating Pho Rex with my parents and falling asleep, tomorrow my plans include grocery shopping and maybe some bowling and Sunday, I want to enjoy my last day with my parents here and win our baseball game!!

Booking Through Thursday: Book reviews

Question June 24, 2010: Do you read book reviews? Do you let them change your mind about reading/not reading a particular book?

My answer: I don't go out of my way to read book reviews-unless they appear in NOW or on blogs that happen to include them (although I have been reading more reading blogs which are predominantly book reviews-so now I look like a liar...anyway...).
If a book that I know I want to read is being reviewed I may purposely not read the review so I am not disappointed. If it's a bad review I will probably still read the book if it's one I am very interested in-with the exception of Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed. I really enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love, but when I read a review of her new book, along with an interview of her and an excerpt of the book (Committed)-I realized that I simply could not read anymore of it!! I could not stand her!!
If I happen to read a glowing book review of I book I was not previously interested in-then I often put that book on my to be read list!

What about you? Do you read book reviews- and if so-do they sway your opinion of whether or not to read a book?

Booking Through Thursday: New or old?

Question June 17, 2010: Do you prefer reading current books? Or older ones? Or outright old ones? (As in, yes, there’s a difference between a book from 10 years ago and, say, Charles Dickens or Plato.)

My answer: New ones I guess. I would have to say that most of the books that I read have been published within the last 20 years. I think the oldest books I've ever read are probably Isaac Asimov's Foundation stories-which I just learned were first published in the 1940s. I do like books that are set in the present day and deal with current issues-on a FICTIONAL basis-but I also love books set in the past-historical fiction included.

I don't have an aversion to older books-so if you have any suggestions-as always-let me know!!!

Book Review: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage

I read Alice Monro's book of short stories last week entitled: Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. It was ok. I mostly liked the first story: same title as the collection, and then last story: The Bear Came Over The Mountain-which I soon realized was made into the movie Away From Her. It's a sad, frustrating, well-written tale about a woman's decent into dementia. I liked this collection more than I expected to considering I have been adamant about not liking short stories-but I did like the length of these. I didn't feel like I needed more from the stories, they were just the right length, but I felt frustrated with the actions of most of the main characters-all women-and had a hard time relating to the characters and the subject matter.

I am definitely willing to give short stories another go so if you have any suggestions PLEASE let me know!!

hiatus

Sorry for the total lack of posts-it might not be much better this week! It was Dave's graduation on Monday the 14th and his Dad was in town until Thursday, Thursday night I had book club, and then my parents came in on Friday and will be here for 10 days. I have the Toronto International Dragon Boat Festival this weekend as well as my usual baseball game on Sunday night. While I am on vacation this week-I may not be posting much. SORRY!!

Hope you're enjoying the beginning of summer-I know I am!!

Sara

Book Review: The Glass Castle

This book has come up a few times over the past few months, and I couldn't remember if I had read this or not. turns out I had-although a long time ago-pre2007 when I started keeping track of the books I read.

Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle is my book club's selection for our meetup next week. Although I have been making more of an effort to write more about the books I read as well as my opinions, I don't like to do too much of that for my book club selections, because, well that's what my book club is for!

With that being said: Did I like this book? That's a hard question to answer. I had a general feeling of discomfort while reading this book. This novel is based on Walls' life, and it was so hard not to judge her parents and their actions. I felt that her parents actions were often selfish and lazy. I felt frustrated and powerless-and in my opinion this alone is a sign that the writer did a good job. I think Walls was courageous to be so open about her past. Her writing is clear and articulate.

On another note: This copy actually belongs to my aunt who lives just outside of Winnipeg (I'm not sure if she know I have it actually!!), my sister brought it for me when she came to visit in May, and it will be returned to my aunt via my parents who are coming to visit it 6 DAYS (although it will have to travel through Quebec and then down through the states, hopefully making it's way back to my aunt in July).

My next reading selection, based on a recommendation from my friend Angela to try out another collection of short stories, is Alice Monroe's Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage.