October

  October has been a fabulous month for weather!  I have loved the beautiful colours.

  I have also read 8 books.  And what a variety they have been!

  Some were for book clubs, one was inspirational, and one was a conundrum.  That would be "Stoner", a book that I have already blogged about.  When I was finished reading that book, I had to call my friend Penny because I knew that she had read it.  I begged for a chat over lunch.  I love the experience of chewing over a book and trying to get to the 'meat of it'.  I knew there was a lot more than appeared on the surface.

   I have mentioned that fall is the season for giving out book prizes.  I did a blog on The Man Booker Prize, which gives 50,000 pounds to the best book in the English language.  I was reminded yesterday that the winner has been announced and here it is:

  "A Brief History of Seven Killings" by Marlon James

Neither the title nor the cover invokes a smidgeon of interest in me.

  But apparently it is brilliantly written.  And I expect that is the reason for the choice.  The subject matter is another thing.  It is a fictionalized account of the life of the Jamaican reggae singer/song writer  Bob Marley.  

    To quote an Amazon reviewer: "It is a flaming hot stew of language, Jamaican history, politics, gangs, drug wars, fear and loathing in Kingston ghettos."  Interested?  The chair of the judges said that it was a unanimous decision.  Apparently it is very funny, very human, very exciting, very violent, and full of swearing.  Now does it sound interesting?

  So that is the winner of one of the book awards, now I am waiting for the Giller and, my favourite of all, Canada Reads.

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The coloured leaves in the fall remind me of the abundance of reading choices. The variety is spectacular!  The human condition is so complex that there will always be  more variety than we can imagine.

I hope you find some comforting books as we head into November, a more somber month.