A few weeks ago at school I taught a mini-lesson to my students about being a voracious reader. It’s important, of course, that kids learn not only how to read, but also that they learn to love reading. We want…

Suddenly – it seems like out of nowhere, this is happening:   There’s a lot going on with my girl lately. Two wheeling on her bike…now reading. Just waiting for her teeth to start wiggling. Ugh…The bike riding was really…

Prof. Pettigrew offers some suggestions

I’ve never had this happen before. Usually when I read a book I can put it firmly in one category: liked or disliked. Sometimes it’s ‘liked with some reservations’, or ‘disliked with some exceptions’. This is the first time I have ever read a book (or …

We all have memories we’d like to banish from the kingdom of our minds. If you can’t think of a special one right now, don’t worry, soon a certain scent will waft through the air, a genteel fingertip will brush by an earlobe or someone will snarl behind the bulge of a maple-cream donut and [...]

   Sisters are complicated. Sisters are easy. Sisters shape who we are, reflect and contrast, sustain and annoy. Sisters are essential and elemental. Rose, Bean and Cordy are three such sisters. As daughters of a Shakespeare scholar, the…

Today I have a topic that all writers must know but many writers don’t realize the importance of the skill to their job. Giving advice. The mentality seems to be that writing is a solo journey, that the writer is … Continue reading →

Can we talk about The Hunger Games for a few minutes, please?Raise your hand if you’ve read the series. In English, I mean.*counts* Eight… twelve… fourteen… That’s what I thought – nearly everyone on the planet. Cool.Now, when I started reading this…

Chicken Soup for the Soul is a series of books that features 101 short, inspirational stories  focused towards a certain group of people or age group.  With over 200 titles there is a book for everyone is every stage of life! Chicken Soup for the …

Without my usual screaming, teeth are brushed, pyjamas worn and homework is done in a jiffy. These days, it’s all about the Potter. We try and finish our nightly duties quickly so we can climb into my son’s bed and devour the tales of wizards, goblins, ghosts and magical mishaps. Not only is it lovely to have this cozy time with my kids, but it’s so much fun to discover something new and wonderful together. So much of our time is spent running to activities, and doing homework that it can be easy to forget the joy of each other’s company.

I feel really bad for starting this way, especially since I’ve spent the evening reading exceedingly positive reviews about Ross Lawhead’s debut fantasy novel The Realms Thereunder.I was able to download the e-version of this book by joining the BookS…

I have too many books to make a list. I don’t want to spend that kind of time on making a list, it just leaves me feeling guilty for not reading the books yet. However, this year I have actually started reading some of the books. My unread books are mainly non-fiction. I read the [...]

If you feel like it’s a chore to keep up with all your favorite blogs, you can now read posts from all the blogs you follow (even the ones that aren’t on WordPress.com!) in one convenient place on the WordPress.com home page: Your reader displays all the posts across all the blogs you follow in [...]

This was meant to be a New Year’s Eve post, but we lost our Internet connection in the early evening. When Hubby called about it, he was informed that most of Atlantic Canada was down, as was some of Ontario. That sent him running to his…

My brother bought me a Kobo Touch eReader for Christmas. Also, a travel case so it can safely travel around with me getting bumped about in my purse or backpack as I bus around town. Now, I’m on the learning curve to figure out how to use an eReader, especially how to load and share [...]

After my last post about gifts for writers, I’ve had an abundance of people come to me in a snit asking if I’d forgotten about readers. Not at all! I’m an incurable one myself. Here is a list of gifts for the reader on your list.Books. Duh. You probabl…

For easier reading and convenience, you can download the Liberal roadmap documents in PDF form. Personally, I find it easier to print then read them, annotating in ink,   Download "A Roadmap to Renewal" from the Liberal.ca site (8 page d…

The winner of the 2011 Giller Prize will be announced tomorrow evening at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. Are you excited? I know you are. I bet you’re already planning your wardrobe for the literary event of the season.And who will take home the $5…

There is nothing better than sitting down with a fresh cup of coffee and browsing uplifting and interesting stories on a Saturday morning. We normally go through our RSS feed on Saturdays to see what’s new out there in the online world and thought that we would share some of our favourite posts from last week with you for your enjoyment.

There is nothing better than sitting down with a fresh cup of coffee and browsing uplifting and interesting stories on a Saturday morning. We normally go through our RSS feed on Saturdays to see what’s new out there in the online world and thought that we would share some of our favourite posts from last week with you for your enjoyment.