"If it were a library book, I'd steal it" ...

These were the words of my 84 year old grandmother during our Mothers Day Skype chat.  You're probably wondering what the book is, right?  Well, it's this delightful little book about life on the Canadian prairies by W.O. Mitchell ...

C gave me his childhood copy earlier this year for my 30th birthday and it is one of loveliest books I've ever read.  I passed it on to Mum, who cried when she read it, and then to my grandmother who also loved it, so much so that she wanted to steal it.  So, when I came across it at the Calgary Reads book sale, I had to pick up a copy for her.  Along with this beautiful book, I picked up a box of books - fiction and non-fiction - for the grand total of $37.  I stuck with this year's resolution - only buy quality books (ie. no trashy chick lit books) - and came home with a range of books from 'Catcher in the Rye' to 'The Shipping News' to 'The Time Traveller's Wife' to 'Birds Without Wings' and many others.  I tend to read a lot at the best of times, but when I'm writing assignments, I find myself escaping into good books long into the night.  Here are a selection, of quality and not-so-quality books that I've read in the last week or two ...  

An easy, feel-good read for island life

A detailed story of an intriguing character

Quite appropriate to be reading after the announcement of Osama's death

The following are books that are sitting on my bedside table, either in paperback form or electronic form on my Kindle, waiting to be read ... 

Recommended by Grant Wiggins, educational guru

Recommended by my good friend, Becci

Another appropriate one to be reading in the current times.  I loved 'Three Cups of Tea'

Although Jodi Picoult's story writing 'recipe' is wearing a little thin, it still makes for a good escapism read