shout-outs galore

But this blog isn't all about me. No, really, it isn't. Take this post, for instance. I have a few friends with books coming out in the next few months, and I want to tell you all about them:

  • Cathy Wong, who is a naturopathic doctor, nutritionist, and About.com's Alternative Medicine guide, just published her first book, The Inside-Out Diet. If you're like me, you're suspicious of all diet/health-food books, but I can assure you from personal experience, Cathy's terrific, knowledgeable and thoughtful, she champions health and loves food at the same time. Go buy it.
  • Jo Walton's Farthing comes out in paperback, in August, and its sequel Ha'Penny in early October. These books should really need no introduction - I've lost count of how many awards Farthing has been nominated for. And rightfully so. It's brilliant. And terrifying. And oh so relevant despite being sit in an alternate-history 1949. Go buy them.
  • Speaking of sequels, Sarah Langan's The Missing, the follow-up to The Keeper, comes out on October 1st. I was lucky enough to read an early draft. Do yourself a favour and buy one for yourself.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to rent a car

1) Get a driver's license. These are remarkably useful things to have, especially in North America. 2) Get a credit card that insures rental cars against collision and loss. Such cards often charge an annual fee, but will pay for themselves if you rent as rarely as once a year - buying that insurance from the rentacar company often costs ~$15 per rental day. Make sure that card is paid up, as the insurance may lapse if you're past due, and bear in mind you have to use it to rent the car. 3) Book online, in advance, preferably with at least one Saturday-night stay. I generally use Expedia to comparison-shop the various major chains, then go to the cheapest chain's corporate site and book a car there. I rarely wind up paying more than $25/day. 4) You don't need to provide a credit card number to rent a car, so feel free to book more than one, just in case. 5) Save money when you book. The bewildering rentacar business model includes all manner of "promotion codes&quo
Read more

Haiti, Haight, I got a new complaint

Image
Well, I just got back an I wish I never leave now (where'd you go?) Who dat martian arrival at the airport? (where'd you go?) How many local dollars for a local anaesthetic? (where'd you go?) The johnny on the corner was very sympathetic (where'd you go?) I went to the place where every white face Is an invitation to robbery An sitting here in my safe European Canadian home I don't wanna go back there again Wasn't I lucky n' wouldn't it be loverly? (where'd you go?) Send us all cards, have a laying in on sunday (where'd you go?) I was there for two weeks, so how come I never tell (where'd you go?) That natty dread drinks at the Sheraton hotel? (where'd you go?) I went to the place where every white face Is an invitation to robbery An sitting here in my safe European Canadian home I don't wanna go back there again Now they got the sun, an they got the palm trees They got the weed, an they got the taxis Whoa, the harder they come, n
Read more

Where there is no Coca-Cola

Image
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Gas stations throughout Africa, like everywhere else, display their prices in big bold numbers visible from far away. One in Uganda might say something like: PETROL 2310 DIESEL 1680 PARAFFIN 970 ("Petrol", o American readers, is the British word for gasoline. Paraffin is primarily used as cooking fuel, but is also used for lamps and fridges.) If you walk from Zambia to Zimbabwe, as I did a couple of days ago, you cross over a metal suspension bridge perched 111 metres above the Zambezi river gorge. From your right comes the constant thunder of Victoria Falls. To your left, a bungee-jumping booth stands on the edge of the bridge. If you look over that edge, you may see, far below, amid whitewater wrinkles, yellow Tonka-toy-sized river rafts, full of adrenalinized tourists about to brave 22 of the 24 rapids of the lower Zambezi gorge. (One of them is Grade Six, too violent to raft; and you don't raft the last rapid, because then you hit croc territory.) O
Read more