My favourite independent bookstore is closing (the owner is retiring) so they're having a big sale, and I picked this up at the sale this evening.

I am the granddaughter of a Canadian soldier from WWII and a Scottish War Bride, and I have always loved the story of how my grandparents met. Plus, I have a strong interest in history, especially the WWII era, so when I saw this book at the sale tonight I thought that I had to read it. I think these kind of stories are generally good for sharing as well (stories that make people happy, that spread love) so I picked up an extra copy to bookcross.

I found this book very readable, and I got through it quickly.

I liked the format and the visuals of this book quite a bit. Some of the stories were wonderful love stories and I'm glad to have read them... but some of them I wasn't especially fond of and/or I didn't think fit in well. That's probably just my own personal taste/preference, but... yeah. That being said, I do enjoy "how we met" kind of stories, and I've found out this book is part of a series; if I encounter other books from the series, I wouldn't necessarily be opposed to reading them... so, I guess I must have liked the book well enough overall.

One thing that I found really odd was that it seemed to me throughout the book (especially the historical notes) that the author had a very American voice/point-of-view, but then when I googled the author after reading the book I found out that she was actually born and raised in Scotland! Super weird.

Anyway, I'm not sure just yet what I'm going to do with this book. I've had a few ideas, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

On July 1st, I plan to do my first mass release (albeit a small one). I plan to leave some immigration stories in Kitchener's Victoria Park, in the area around the bell tower with all the quotes and luggage sculptures, and I am including this book! Where possible, I will leave the books near quotes that relate to the stories.

Since before Canada was Canada, people have been coming here from lots of different places, in lots of different ways, and for lots of different reasons. Our history is not without mistakes or injustices, but I feel there is a lot that's worthy of celebration and pride as well. I have done my best, in these restricted times, to diversify the books I've chosen in terms of style and reading level, as well as in terms of times and cultures represented. Some are geared to kids, some to adults; some are fiction, some are non-fiction; some focus more on what happened in a person/character's life that led to them coming to Canada, some focus on building a life here, and some focus more on the journey itself; many have been written by immigrant authors. Some of these books were written a long time ago and may contain dated language/attitudes, but history was what it was so I've chosen not to automatically rule out books based on those factors. If you've found one of these books, I hope that you will enjoy it!

I left this book on the steps near the pond across from the clock tower. I left it beside the Luggage Project tag that says "I came because I love you and would like to build a new life with you."

If you've found this book, thanks for picking it up and checking out its journal! If you're new to bookcrossing, welcome. We'd love it if you'd stick around with us a while. I really hope that you enjoy both this book and the whole bookcrossing experience! Happy Canada Day!


This book was released as part of the "Canada Days" Release Challenge!