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Recent Book Activity

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" Imagine all the people
Reading lots of books....." Photo taken May 2006, Strawberry Fields, Central Park, NYC. The book? Larry Kane's "Ticket to Ride" - his travels with The Beatles on their 1st and 2nd junkets to North America...still waiting for that JE but you never know....(see Rock and Roll book list below)

....Jessibud, DonFiction (formerly Thyroidman) and Bookgirrl got a new TORONTO OBCZ going March 2009:
Harbord House Pub (formerly Rowers Pub)
150 Harbord Street, Toronto, Ontario. University of Toronto neighbourhood and a short walk from Spadina subway station.
HH hosts poetry readings, musical evenings, offers Ontario craft beers and good food @ good prices. An interesting mix of locals, U of T students, profs, poets, hang out there.

Within a week, I received my first Journal Entry from Harbord House Pub. So far, about 4 have come through, but we've had some great meetups.

In general....I feel that we've entered
an era of "Radio Nowhere" or, "57 Channels and Nothing On" (Update: "600 Channels and Nothing On") - thanks, Boss. In fact, I got rid of my TV, November 2010. I have not missed it at all. Bookcrossing is a great place for people who love to read, but it also encourages the whole world to read.

No apologies for my rabid love of rock and roll history......

Activity:
January 2005: Stumble upon a dog-eared "wild" book at Home Depot...the rest is history
May 2005 - Meetup in London, with UK BookCrossers at OBCZ Stamford Arms
Dec 2005 - "Bucklesbook" signs up (my Mom) still going strong in her 8th decade - releasing books all over the place
April 2006 - North American BC convention in my hometown
April 2008: London Convention - found 3 "Wild Releases" - 1 near Westminster Abbey, 2 in Oxford. Great to see bookcrossers I had "met" online. Little trip to Birmingham - "tour guide" Lyzzybee introduced us to a charming city
Feb 2009: Joined (somewhat reluctantly)....Facebook - and PLEASE don't ask me to do quizzes, send you flowers, etc!
Sept 2009: 6th year at Word on the Street (WOTS) with Harrowsmith Magazine and Harrowsmith's Truly Canadian Almanac
April 2010. Survived Amsterdam/volcanoes/delayed flights. This year will be the most famous Convention of all time. Who could have predicted that whaddyacallit volcano? I am so sorry for the BX'ers who did not make it to the event, or got stuck with no flight home. We were very lucky and only delayed by one day.
Sept 2010: 21st Annual "Word on the Street". Pooker3, Geishabird, Pinkoeria, Jessibud, Miss Efficiency and iNomad met up at noon We learned that releasing lots of books together, gets results. Released about 55 on two park benches. Every one snapped up. And more than the usual number of JE's. 3 of mine joined up - very gratifying.
2011: Saving $$$ for Dublin Convention....and so far, 3 meetups/bookswaps at Harbord House this year. A dedicated group.
Sept. 2011: Word on the Street - time to get our books organized for an even bigger
"wild release". Miss-Efficiency suggests we bring a wheelbarrow!
October 2011: Book Swaps/Meetups still happening at Harbord House Pub - Oct. 30th event was a lot of fun. We have a good shelf there, come on by and pick up/leave a "wild book".
December 2011: We have signed up for Dublin! So excited!
April 2012: We had a wonderful time in Dublin. Just got back and miss the green.
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Books Read since joining BX'ing: ("Alpha" attempt. Cdn = Canadian)

253 - Geoff Ryman - Thanks, Squirk! (Ryman is Cdn)
Adventure in Holland - Brockway & van der Kenken
The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton
The Bachelor Brothers' Bed & Breakfast - Bill Richardson (Cdn)
The Beauty of the Humanity Movement - Camilla Gibb (Cdn)
Beneath a Marble Sky: a Novel of The Taj Mahal - John Shors
Better Homes and Husbands - Valerie Ann Leff
The Book of Negroes - Lawrence Hill (Canadian)
The Bookseller of Kabul - Asne Seierstad
Brick Lane - Monica Ali - a GREAT BOOK! - (visited Brick Lane, April 2008)
A Complicated Kindness - Miriam Toews (Cdn)
Crow Lake (Canadian) - Mary Lawson - a hit with Brummie BX'ers in UK
The Dead of Jericho (Inspector Morse) - Colin Dexter
Deafening - (Cdn) - Frances Itani
The Dork of Cork - Charming, quirky - Chet Raymo
Dunster - John Mortimer ("Rumpole" author)
The First Casualty - Ben Elton
The Flying Troutmans - Miriam Toews (Cdn)
The Freedom Thing - Phil Hogan
The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
The Good Earth - Pearl S. Buck
Good to a Fault - Marina Endicott
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
The Hours - Michael Cunningham
Judi Dench Bio - With a Crack in Her Voice
The King's Speech - Mark Logue & Peter Conradi
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Kit's Law - Donna Morrissey (Cdn)
Lost Geography - Charlotte Bacon
The Marriage Bureau for Rich People - Farahad Zama
The Meaning of Everything - Simon Winchester
Memento Mori - Muriel Spark
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
The Mistress of Nothing - Kate Pullinger
My Antonia - Willa Cather
No! I Don't Want to Join a Book Club - Virginia Ironside
On the Road - Jack Kerouac (born in Canada!) - Sorry, didn't enjoy it much
The Paperboy's Winter - Tim Bowling (Lovely & Canadian)
Playing for Pizza - John Grisham
The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
Reluctant Genius - Bio of Alexander Graham Bell, by Charlotte Grey (Cdn)
Small Island - Andrea Levy - GREAT BOOK!!!!
Solar - Ian McEwan
Sweetness in the Belly - Camilla Gibb (Cdn)
Sylvanus Now - Donna Morrissey (Cdn)
Quicksand & Passing - Nella Larsen
Q's Legacy - Helene Hanff
Red April - Santiago Roncagliolo
Sarah's Key - Tatiana De Rosnay
She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb (Cdn)
This Side Jordan - Margaret Laurence (Canadian)
Solar - Ian McEwan
This Side Jordan - Margaret Laurence (Canadian)
Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson
Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden (Canadian)
Through Black Spruce - Joseph Boyden (Cdn)
Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
The Warden of English - Jenny McMorris
The Wasted Vigil - Nadeem Aslam
A Wedding in December - Anita Shreve
When God was a Rabbit - Sarah Winman
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York's Master Builder and Transformed the American City - Anthony Flint
The Yacoubian Building - Alaa Al Aswany
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Rock and Roll Library (Alpha by Title: Most are Permanent Collection)
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1,000 Record Covers - Michael Ochs
20,000 Roads, the Ballad of Gram Parsons & his Cosmic American Music - David Meyer
All the Rage - Ian "Mac" McLagan bio (Small Faces, Faces, etc)
American Dreams - Randy Newman bio
Are you Ready for the Country? - Doggett
Around the World in 57-1/2 Gigs - Dave Bidini (post-Rheostatics - great retired Cdn band)
Back to the Garden: The Story of Woodstock & How It Changed a Generation - Pete Fornatale
The Beatles: The Biography (Audiobook) - Bob Spitz
Being Young - Astrid Young (Cdn&1/2 sister of Neil) - first 30 pages only
Bye Bye Baby: My Tragic Love Affair with the Bay City Rollers - Caroline Sullivan
Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of Brian Wilson - Peter Ames Carlin
Chet Baker: As Though I Had Wings: The Lost Memoir - Chet Baker
Clapton - Eric Clapton autobiography
Chronicles I - Bob Dylan (Hurry up with Chronicles II !)
Chuck Berry: The Autobiography - Chuck Berry
Dark Horse - George Harrison bio - Geoffrey Giuliano
David Bowie: Moonage Daydream – Dave Thompson
Diary of a Rock'n'Roll Star - Ian Hunter (Love you, MOTTS!)
Dylan: A Biography - Bob Spitz
Faithfull - Autobiography - Marianne Faithfull
A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties - Suze Rotolo (Lived with Dylan in the '60s)
Girls Like Us: Mitchell, Simon, King - Sheila Weller
Have Not Been the Same: The CanRock Renaissance 1985-1995 - Barclay, Jack, Schneider (3x Cdn)
Hickory Wind: Story of Gram Parsons - Ben Fong-Torres
High Fidelity - Nick Hornby
Hot Burritos - John Einarson (Cdn) with Chris Hillman
I Walked the Line - Vivian Cash (1st Wife of Johnny Cash, Mother of Roseanne, etc.)
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead - Warren Zevon bio - Crystal Zevon
I'm a Believer. My Life of Monkees, Music and Madness - Micky Dolenz & Mark Bego
It Ain't Easy: The Story of Long John Baldry - Paul Myers (Cdn & brother of Austin Powers!)
John Lennon - Philip Norman
John Peel: The Biography - Michael Heatley
John Peel: Margrave of the Marshes - John Peel and Sheila Ravenscroft
Keith Richards: The Biography - Victor Bokris
"Kill Your Idols" Series - hard to find. (Costello, Cohen, Young, Clash, Waits, Beck)
Kill Your Idols - Jim DeRogatis (mediocre, mostly whiny, except Fleetwood Mac chapter - hilarious)
The Kinks - Jeff Hudson & Neville Marten (Well researched, but dull)
Lennon Revealed - Larry Kane
Life - Keith Richards with James Fox
Love, Janis - Laura Joplin
Me, the Mob, and the Music - One Helluva Ride with Tommy James & The Shondells
Miss O'Dell: My Hard Days and Long Nights with The Beatles, The Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and the Women They Loved - Chris O'Dell
On a Cold Road: Tales of Adventure in Canadian Rock - Dave Bidini (Cdn)
Paul McCartney: A Life - Peter Ames Carlin
Me, the Mob, and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James & The Shondells - Tommy James
Neil & Me - 25th Anniversary Edition - Scott Young (Cdn)
The Road to Woodstock - Michael Lang
Rod Stewart - a Biography - Tim Ewbank & Stafford Hildred
Rotten: No Irish-No Blacks-No Dogs - John Lydon
'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky: Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child - David Henderson
Shout - Philip Norman
Simon & Garfunkel's Bookends - Pete Fornatale
So Different (Sinnead O'Connor bio) - Dermott Hayes
Songbook - Nick Hornby
Soulsville, USA: The Story of Stax Records – Rob Bowman (Cdn/Grammy Winner)
The Spider with the Platinum Hair - Mick Ronson Bio - by Weird & Gilly (Eric Dimatteo and Karen Laney - Really nice people!)
Takin' Care of Business - Randy Bachman (Cdn) bio/autobio with John Einarson (Cdn)
Tell Me Why - The Beatles: Album by Album, Song by Song, the 60's & After
This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm & the Story of The Band (Cdn)
Ticket to Ride - Larry Kane
Whispering Pines: The Northern Roots of American Music from Hank Snow to The Band - Jason Schneider (Cdn)
White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960's - Joe Boyd
Wonderful Tonight - Patti Boyd
X-RAY - Ray Davies