I take one afternoon off a week.
The first rule of the afternoon off is: No technology. The second: Have a destination. Look at public art, have an ice cream soda at the fun restaurant that never gets the orders right, or persuade a librarian to let you borrow MacKinlay Cantor’s out-of-print novel, Spirit Lake, which is bizarrely in a special collection.
Fortunately, we had a gorgeous day, so I set out to look at public art. I decided to check out the “Timeless Beaverdale” mural in the Beaverdale neighborhood.
The Beaverdale neighborhood has a mystique. They love their Beaverdale bricks (brick houses), annual parade and festival (we always find squished candy on the street), and every business has “Beaverdale” in the title.
All right, I couldn’t find the mural!
There are several stores in what I think of as “downtown Beaverdale.” But the mural wasn’t there!
And then I learned there is another block of restaurants and pubs near the Catholic church. The mural is somewhere around there. But the sun was setting, and the vampires would soon come out…
Another day.
AND NOW FOR FIVE LITERARY LINKS.
There are more new”Best of ” lists every day. Although the same few books tend to get mentioned again and again, occasionally you find something new. Here are five links!
Shelf Awareness, the publisher of two newsletters for readers and booksellers.
The Guardian. Best books of 2018: Hilary Mantel, Yuval Noah Harari and more pick their favourites
The New York Times. Times Critics’ Top Books of 2018
Vulture. The 10 Best Books of 2018
And last but not least:
Largehearted Boy, a compilation of Online Best Books of 2018 links
Happy Reading and Happy Afternoons off!
