The Value of a Good Book

I recently attended the Festival of the Written Arts on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. My sole intention was to see Miriam Toews, the author of my favorite book: A Complicated Kindness. She read well, with as much dry sarcasm and wry wit as I expected from her writing. At several points I erupted into uncontrollable giggles - slightly out of discord with the mainly "grey-topped" crowd. During the question period there was a great deal of interest in the topic of the Mennonite culture. Surely that is a central theme, but I was more interested in her writing methods, ideas, etc. Now, I am a novice with author readings - but is the question period always hijacked by book-club-know-it-alls?

I'm such a novice that I didn't bring my recently re-purchased copy of her book for signing. Re-purchased because I lent the original to a random guy I dated over the holidays. After an abrupt end to things, he emailed a week later to ask if I wanted to a) talk or get together b) get my book back. Answer: resounding NO. Pride intact. Minus one book. As a good friend said, (something like) - "What an ass! Of course you want your FAVORITE book back!" Luckily the Lithe Librarian has now fallen in love with the Lithe Biologist who understands the value of a good book.

By the way- today I discussed this book lending story during a lovely gab with a co-worker and discovered that she is distantly related to Miriam Toews (no wonder this co-worker is so fun! - nah, actually it was a long string of relatives involved). You know you're a famous Canadian author when...!