Recent Book Activity

About me:
I'm a petroleum geologist working in eastern Canada. I love literary novels, and have been working my way through a lot of classic Canadian literature and discovering new international authors of late.

Currently reading:
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

My book wishlist:
Tears of the Giraffe by A. McCall Smith
Kalahari Typing School for Men by A. McCall Smith
The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany
The Philosopher's Doll by Amanda Lohrey
The Pedant's Revolt by Andrea Barham
The Divine Ryans by Wayne Johnston
Brahma's Dream by Shree Ghatage
Mona in the Promised Land by Gish Jen
The Way the Crow Flies by Anne-Marie MacDonald
Some Great Thing by Colin Mcadam
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Unless by Carol Shields
Lost in the Barrens by Farley Mowat
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - promised from Gumshoe007
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides - coming via a bookring


Sheepseeker's 5-5-5 challenge (read 5 books from five countries on each of the five continents).
I didn't make it through the challenge in 2006 since my reading slowed down a lot with the end of summer and the return to school. I certainly enjoyed trying, and got exposed to a lot of new authors that I never would have picked up otherwise. Here's how I did:

Africa:
1) #1 Ladies Detective Agency (Botswana) - finished
2) Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (S. Africa) - finished
3) The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany (Egypt) - need a copy
4) Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe (Nigeria) - TBR
5) something by Nuruddin Farah (Somalia)

Australia/Oceania:
1) Where We Once Belonged by Sia Fiegel (W. Samoa) - finished
2) The Philosopher's Doll by Amanda Lohrey (Australia) - need a copy
3) Potiki by Patricia Grace (New Zealand) - finished
4) Breadfruit by Celestine Vaite (Tahiti) - finished
5) Aimbe the Challenger by Paulias Matane (P. New Guinea) - finished

The Americas:
1) Sylvanus Now by Donna Morrissey (Canada) - finished
2) The Color Purple by Alice Walker (USA) - finished
3) something by Chico Buarque or Jorge Amado (Brazil)
4) Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat (Haiti) - finished
5) The Swinging Bridge by Ramabai Espinet (Trinidad) - finished

Asia: (All finished!)
1) Kim by Rudyard Kipling (India) - finished
2) The Girl Who Played Go by Shan Sa (China) - finished
3) The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan) - finished
4) Goodbye Tsugumi by Banana Yoshimoto (Japan) - finished
5) Look For Me by Edeet Ravel (Israel) - finished

Europe: (All finished!)
1) Man and Boy by Tony Parsons (UK) - finished
2) The Book of Proper Names by Amélie Nothomb (France) - finished
3) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spain) - finished
4) The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani (Italy) - finished
5) My Dream of You by Nuala O'Faolain (Ireland) - finished