Tagged!

Tag you’re it! And thus my lethargic blogging ways shall come to an end. My friend Sean at seanincognito has decided that I should get back to my blogging by tapping me for a compilation of my books and reading faves. It’s a daunting task for someone who seems to have hit the wall of late in finishing books. I get started quite nicely thank you very much, but then about half way through something happens to my zeal for the final page, I begin to nod off whilst reading (no offence to any author purely my bad not yours). It seems that there is rarely enough time in my day anymore to just sit and read for the pure enjoyment of the read, this despite the fact that at the moment I’m not what the government would call gainfully employed.

But there it is, once the Daily newspapers are taken care of (as well as the odd general interest magazine) my reading gene seems to click off, leaving pile upon pile of books to look at, like pieces in a museum never to be touched. Though of late there has been a slight renaissance in my reading traits so there may be hope for the printed word yet.

So with the risk of not finishing my lists here I shall get to work on all things literate.

Number of Books I own

Hundreds, in all shapes and sizes, fiction and non fiction, hard cover works of literature to coffee table doorstops, commercial paper backs to hockey statistic books. Brand new efforts and those wonderful gems you find at a Coles clearance table. They sit on shelf after shelf of the basement occasionally glanced at by visitors, occasionally even the spine gets cracked open and someone reads a chapter or two. Every once and a while I decide to clear cut some space in my library and make a donation to our public library. My altruistic urges tempered by the knowledge that they shortly end up in the libraries 50 cent clearance bins, but hey somebody might actually pick one up and discover something of interest.

Last Book I bought

A recent trip to Prince George sent me into the Coles and some reduced in price works, Bob Woodward’s Bush At War, Lawrence Martin’s Iron Man Vol 2 and Tom Clancy’s Teeth of the Tiger all found their way into a book bag as did Geoffrey Hindley’s The Crusades. Not exactly sure what those four tell about my reading habits other than the fact that I love a good bargain. When you can pick up a hard cover book for 4.99 well I guess that explains why I have hundreds of books and how the local library finds its sale bins replenished every four months or so.


The Last Book I read

I’m going to cheat just a little, as I’m in the finishing stages of the Great Unraveling by Paul Krugman (If I wait long enough to post this I most likely will be finished it). I’m not of the Bash George Bush cult that seems to be in vogue these days, not that I would have voted for the guy (I wouldn’t) but I sometimes find the anti Bush rhetoric a bit over the top and unsubstantiated. But Krugman sure puts the fear of God into the reader with his synopsis of the Bush years thus far and the less than sure footed economic plans that his administration work under. Half way through the thing I was wishing that I actually had some money to stuff under my mattress should all of the Bush economic plans come crashing to earth. For a book on economics it’s been a fascinating if frightful read.

Five books that mean a lot to me

Five! Yikes how the heck can you do that? Well I’ll give it a try but there are so many that I have read and enjoyed that singling out five seems somehow rather silly and I may take a mulligan on the idea of limiting my comments to only five.

George Orwell’s Animal Farm, long before I even could grasp politics and the machinations of those that govern us I found Orwell’s examination of life on the farm as a fascinating study. From all noble intentions pure rot can seem to grow I guess. Or as the animals learned as time went by, some animals are more equal than others. Something we all need to be reminded of from time to time, sadly I like most Canadians seem to be on the side of the animals that aren’t as equal.

My Friend Sean touched on the many epics of Pierre Berton so I shan’t list any of them here, suffice to say that I found some fascination in Canadian history through the pages of Berton, from Flames Across the Border (1-0 against the USA for those keeping score) to Vimy (a nation forged in blood on French soil) to the Railway tomes Berton found a way to bring Canada alive. Also for Sean, knowing his love of the railway books he should pick up a copy of Lords of the Line by David Cruise and Alison Griffiths a great read on the CPR.

In my library is a long list of Political books from all points of the Canadian agenda, David Lewis’s The Good Fight is a must read for anyone wondering where the NDP once came from as is the Tommy Douglas’ memoir Road to Jerusalem. The Tories are explored through the Diefenbaker years by Peter Stursberg and of course no Tory library would be complete without the Mulroney tomes including Stevie Cameron’s On the Take. Preston Manning’s brief time in the spot light received a few book offers with The New Canada and Storming Babylon and for those that constantly grasp the worry beads over the state of Quebec in confederation there are books on Lucien Bouchard by Lawrence Martin and an excellent examination of the passion of Rene Levesque by Peter Desbarats, not to mention an excellent memoir by Levesque himself. But considering the longevity of the Liberal Party of Canada a political library would have to feature Juggernaut by Susan Delacourt which details the backroom dealings and animosities of the Chretien/Martin era, but for those looking for a feel good expose of all things Grit I recommend Christina McCall Newman’s’ thorough effort called GRITS, what the Libs once stood for before arrogance seemed to overtake their raison d’etre.

I have a great respect for current Globe and Mail columnist Roy MacGregor, who has put together a vast library of his own with a number of works over the years. From kids books to insightful examinations of our National game MacGregor can weave a story nicely. In fact for those looking for a father’s day present I highly recommend THE HOME TEAM, Fathers Sons and Hockey, anyone who has ever had their Dad take them to an early morning hockey practice will get a lump in the throat by the time you hit page 325.

Being of Irish extraction I find stories of the ancestral homeland to be quite riveting, over the years I’ve devoured a wide selection of Irish historicals, from the Story of the Irish Race to the Great Shame I’ve learned quite a bit about my roots. The growth industry of IRA books keeps the shelves full from the Informer to the Secret History of the IRA there seems to be no shortage of those willing to share a tale. But for an overall view of the place, Robert Kee’s The Green Flag trilogies however seems to be a great primer for those wishing to understand the Island and its ancient grievances.

For pure escapism though I turn to Tom Clancy from his early days with the Hunt for Red October up to the current events thrillers he churns out regularly I find the story telling to be rewarding. A little over the top and jingoistic at times, but when you suspend your belief for a bit you can actually climb into the sub, the ship, the plane or the back streets of the world and share the adventure. THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER is still my favourite of all his works though, perhaps because of my time in the Canadian Navy or maybe because Sean Connery brought it to life so well in the film. Regardless I find it is one book I can go back to over and over again and still find myself gripped by its drama.

So with a little bit of creative accounting there are the five books I shall list. I can think of dozens more that I find entertaining and informative from All the Presidents Men to the Exorcist, Death of A President to The Godfather there has been much I have read over the years. Perhaps I’ll expand on the theme in my blog over time, offering my take on some of the works that have brought me pleasure over time.

For now though I’ll tag some other folks, I’m going to approach this a bit differently I’m tagging folks who have provided me with some interesting blog reading over the last year. I don’t necessarily know any of these people and they may or may not be inclined to put their thoughts down for us. But I think they might have some fascinating options for us, so I tag the following.

The Jaded New Englander
1169 and counting
Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic
Slugger O’Toole
Different Thinking by David Johnson

Hopefully none have already been tagged, cause I’m running out of names here... My thanks to sean for restoring the creative juices this week!