Nothing says summer vacation like lolling about reading a good book. Because I work at Homemakers magazine, and I try to be involved in the magazine industry in general, I usually spend my transit rides and my late hours devouring one magazine or another (and yes, they’re mainly Canadian magazines – we have so many terrific ones).
While on vacation last week, I read through the four or five magazines I’d brought, but the bad weather had me looking for more reading material. Then I remembered that I’d brought a book my mom lent me ages ago – “The Holding” by Merilyn Simonds (McLelland & Stewart, 2005). Not only is the book a beautiful work of fiction about pioneer living and back-to-the-land living, I thought Simonds really hit some ecological notes. In poetic detail, she describes trees, wildflowers and medicinal plants native to the Madawaska area (near Ottawa). Her careful descriptions, told within the context of a greater story, really make we want to be able to identify forest flora and, hopefully, bring some of this richness to the shady corners of my garden.
Mom, I can finally give you the book back! As soon as I’ve traced through it for the names of some of those plants.
Have you read any great fiction lately? Has a work of fiction inspired you to try something, or helped you learn about something?
