Travels with Charley: In Search of America

I've never been so stunned by a book's introduction that it's halted me from reading any further. However, in the past three months, I've read the introduction to John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley: In Search of America three times, unable to venture any further. Steinbeck perfectly captures my own restlessness and urge to explore. I have a suspicion that by reading any further, I'll be forced to confront my own need to escape.

“When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. Four hoarse blasts of a ship’s whistle still raise the hair on my neck and set my feet tapping. The sound of a jet, an engine warming up, even the clopping of shod hooves on pavement brings on the ancient shudder, the dry mouth and vacant eye, the hot palms and the churn of stomach high up under the rib cage. In other words, I don’t improve." ...

And so it was …

Anyone who has ever stumbled upon my personal blog will know that I'm big on end-of-the-year recap posts. They're my way of summing up a year gone by, while looking forward to a new one to come.

2011 was the year that I finally started this blog. I first planned to begin Not My Typewriter a number of years ago, buying the domain way back at the end of 2009, but it took an amount of restlessness at work to finally get things moving forward in January 2011. I quickly learned that I gained far more than simply a place to ramble about books I loved, and those I hated; rather, I've gained a community of book lovers, especially through Twitter, who I have loved engaging with in 2011. These 140-character exchanges became something I looked forward to after long nights at the office. 

I look forward to a 2012 that hopefully means fewer long days and nights at work, so I can read more, blog more, and hopefully, travel more. When I was in university, I always promised myself I wouldn't spend my life in a cubicle, staring at a computer screen for hours at a time. While I've avoided the cubicle, the 9 to 5 in an office staring at a computer screen can be exhausting, even though I'm lucky enough to work in an industry I love. I'm not sure that I'm ready to leave it behind quite yet, but I am hoping for at least some adventure this year, made possible by a little bit of financial flexibility since paying off my student loan. I'm itching to be a little reckless, and take some risks I couldn't take before.

I hope you all enjoyed a safe New Year's Eve and a relaxing New Year's Day. All the best and happy reading in 2012.

The Baltimore House

A friend recommended that I visit The Baltimore House, a new space that the Hamilton Spectator called "part café, part reading spot, part music venue, and eventual night club." I'm so glad that I immediately took her advice. After one quick visit, I already know that The Baltimore House, which is located on King William on top of one of my favourite new restaurants in the city, The Flavour of Himalaya, will become one of my go-to places when I'm looking for somewhere to work, blog, or read. How can you not love a place that names its sandwiches after one of your favourite poets, Edgar Allen Poe? It doesn't hurt that the antique furniture and minimal lighting creates the perfect atmosphere for snapping photos. I would definitely recommend The Baltimore House to anyone in Hamilton who is looking for a mature place with plenty of character. I'm so happy that there is finally a coffee culture beginning to thrive in Hamilton.

Holiday Round-Up

It's December 29th and I'm only just starting to emerge from the food and drink coma brought on by the holidays. I hope everyone was lucky enough to have a few days full of good food, relaxation, and family like I did. I wasn't only spoiled through food and drink, but also way too many gifts, including a new Kobo Touch from my sister, which has hurled me into the world of e-Reading.

The best part of the holidays so far has been a few well-needed days off. The last few months have been hectic at work, and I've been looking forward to some time away. Last night Jordan was out, so I took some time to start navigating my Kobo and watch Finding Farley, a documentary I've been trying to watch for quite a while. The film, which is about a family's adventure travelling from coast to coast to visit Farley Mowat, has given me the crazy idea that I should try to read each of Farley's books in 2012. It's ambitious, but I've put The People of the Deer on hold at the library. It's worth a try.

I'm not one for resolutions, but I paid off my student loan last week as a Christmas gift to myself, which has my mind reeling with possibilities of travel and upgrading to a larger apartment in 2012. I'm hoping that a little bit of financial freedom will bring me a step closer to a home office and stepping away from the daily commute. Cheers to 2012!

For the bookish folks on your list …

The tree is up, I've watched a few snippets of It's a Wonderful Life, and I've been humming along to holiday tunes for the past few weeks; however, I'm far from ready for the holidays. A few stocking stuffers aside, I've barely bought any gifts, let alone provided Jordan (the better half) with any useful ideas for me. My own disorganization has prompted this post, in hopes that it will spark a few ideas for people with book lovers on their lists.

1. Vintage Books

This list isn't in chronological order; however, personally, vintage books take the top spot on my list. (Are you taking notes, Jordan?)

Not only are vintage books wonderful, tactile artifacts from the past, they're also the perfect gift to personalize. I'm not talking about taking a Sharpie to the inside cover; rather, I mean the act of choosing the perfect vintage book for the person on your list. Because I work in educational publishing for children, and picture books are a love of mine, vintage picture books are one of my favourite relics to buy and receive. I also find myself drooling over vintage cookbooks in used bookstores and at antique shows, wishing I had a vintage-cookbook-loving foodie on my shopping list.

The best part about gifting vintage books is you can often find the perfect gift sitting in a stack for only a few dollars or even cents.

2. Tree of Codes

I wasn't going to list any specific books here because, as book lovers, we all have such unique tastes; however, Tree of Codes by Jonathon Safron Foer is so unlike anything else that exists that any book lover will truly appreciate it. I don't think I can describe this book any better than I did in the first post I ever wrote on Not My Typewriter:

"Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran Foer is so delicate that I can barely turn a page without worrying one might tear. It is one of those books that almost seems too beautiful to read. Foer, who wrote possibly the best book I read in 2010, Eating Animals, has extracted his own story, using the text of his favourite book, Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz. Tree of Codes is an art project, utilizing die-cutting techniques to literally carve a new book in to an old one. Aesthetically, it is breathtaking, and I can’t wait to (very carefully) read it."

 

3. Postcards from Penguin

Quick thinking isn't always one of my strongest skills, especially when it comes to shopping, so I passed up on this collection of postcards at Pottery Barn (of all places) a few weeks ago, simply because I couldn't think of what I could do with 100 Penguin postcards. I've been regretting that decision ever since, hoping that my shopping partner (my sister) somehow found a way to sneak back and buy them for me while I was in a fitting room or taking a bathroom break.

I keep thinking of places around my apartment where a few of them would look perfect in tiny frames, and they could also be my inspiration for a postcard-writing revival. If I find this wrapped under my Christmas tree, I'll be on the lookout for some bookish penpals.

Advent Book Blog

In 2009, the Advent Book Blog launched, fuelling me to begin my own challenge on my now almost defunct personal blog. Just as I've failed at maintaining my personal blog, I very much failed at my challenge to write a one-sentence book review every day in December 2009. Despite this personal failure, I still look forward to the relaunch of the Advent Book Blog every December, which always prompts me to add at least one or two new titles to my Christmas list. I'm so thrilled that it's December and the Advent Book Blog's mini reviews are pouring into my Google reader, but I'm even more thrilled to have contributed a review this year. Check out my mini review of the Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary. I don't think I need to write a post about my favourite book of 2011. It's pretty obvious!

Hamilton Literary Awards

The 18th Annual Hamilton Literary Awards were handed out on Monday; however, rush-hour traffic from Toronto to Hamilton stood between me and the ceremony, which was held at Theatre Aquarius’s Norman and Louise Haac Studio Theatre. I was especially happy to hear that Gary Barwin won the poetry award for one of my favourite recent collections, The Porcupinity of the Stars.

The winners were …

EPIC BOOKS AWARD for FICTION BOOK

Trevor Cole for Practical Jean

THE PRINTING HOUSE AWARD for NON-FICTION BOOK

Peter Edwards for The Bandido Massacre

BRYAN PRINCE BOOKSELLER AWARD for POETRY BOOK

Gary Barwin for The Porcupinity of the Stars

RELIABLE LIFE INSURANCE AWARD for CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULT BOOK

Sylvia McNicoll for Last Chance For Paris

SERAPHIM EDITIONS AWARD for INDIVIDUAL POEM

David Haskins for Urban Fox