Surmising

That's my new favourite word, as of yesterday. It suddenly came to mind and that made me feel smart, haha. From time to time I do like to make lists of my favourite words- another tidbit I'm sure you all were dying to know.

Words make me happy, you know? The sound, the shape, the crunch of them. Today, the first customer I spoke to is from a town that is one of my favourite words, Mascouche, so that made me smile. Seriously, say that five times in a row, it's irresistible. I dare you ;)

On that note, I've been reading everything by Miriam Toews recently that I can get my hands on. So far I've read A Complicated Kindness, The Flying Troutmans, and, just this weekend, Irma Voth, the newest one. I don't know what it is, but the way she writes is just so profound. It draws me in and makes me sad, and I don't usually get drawn to the sad books, but I can't help myself with these ones. It's like I'm taken into the story and get completely wrapped up in the characters and their lives and longings, and they're remarkably poignant in the way they speak and think. It's like every other sentence, hidden in prose, is a sad, sad poem of futility and hope, all wrapped up in the mind of a Mennonite girl doing the best she can with what she's got. So much of it is so beautiful that it hurts.

Has anyone read any of her work?

I almost didn't want to finish Irma Voth because it was getting really sad, but I knew I had to see the end, and I'm glad I did. (Let's be honest, I wasn't really going to not finish it.) It's one I would highly highly recommend. Can I say how thankful I am for the public library?

Haha, I should review books for a living (not) :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Canada Day weekend!