Read: Cesar Millan - How to raise the perfect dog, through puppyhood and beyond

In preparation for getting a puppy I'm starting to read dog books. Cesar Millan is pretty interesting - writes quite a bit about dog psychology and how not to humanize dogs. There are some counter-intuitive tips in how to make your dog as happy and fulfilled as possible - I'm glad I've read this before getting a dog.

Read: Shay Salomon - Little House on a Small Planet

This book is like an anthropological/sociological study of what it's like to live in a small house (which generally means less than 1000 sq ft, and in many cases just two or three hundred sq feet) mashed up with a design/architectural reference for small house and green building strategies. And the focus isn't just on the homes - it's also on the wider financial/social/environmental benefits of living small. I wish she had more books - I would read them all.

Read: Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson - The Great Typo Hunt, Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time

Initially I was put off by the overblown, flowery language. But Jeff Deck's earnest and kind-hearted to correct errors wherever he found them won me over. And as the story went on it became less of a personal quest and more of a general inquiry into how errors come to pass in the English language, and how we might mitigate that, which was really worth reading, particularly the part that examined English language instruction in schools.

One of the stranger aspects of checking this book out of the library was that some previous reader had gone through marking up all the items that he thought were mistakes. And yet only one of them was an actual error - the others were all differences of opinion in style, or actual misunderstandings of the text and the fact that it was correct. I'd love to go through marking up all the "corrections" with a "stet", except it's unlikely that the previous reader will ever see my mark-ups. Argh.

Read: Diana Gabaldon - Outlander

I'm not sure how I ended up reading this book. I had been looking online for lists of historical fiction, so maybe it was listed there. I'd also been browsing through the available e-books from the library, so maybe it was there. However it happened, I'm glad I came across it. A WWII-era English nurse accidentally ends up back in time in 1700s Scotland. She ends up forced to marry a younger Scottish man, rather against her will, and then discovers her attraction to him - the banter and sparks are quite good - it reminds me of the earliest books in the Lindsey Davis detective novels set in ancient Rome. Not only that, but she has to work hard to make a place for herself in this very different society, where her medical skills are valued, but can also be used against her (it's a short turn from medical cure to witchcraft). It's a bit historical fiction, a bit mystery, a bit sci fi. Very readable, and it turns out there are several more that follow it. I think I know where most of my summer reading hours are going to go...

Want to Read: Phyllis Brett Young - The Torontonians

A novel of life in Toronto in the 1940s/50s, the tension between downtown and suburbs (when the suburbs didn't extend any further than Leaside), and between old British guard and new immigrants. Sounds strikingly similar to today. This novel has just been re-issued after falling into obscurity after its initial best-selling fame. I'm intrigued...

Want to Read: Ken Greenberg - Walking Home, The Life and Lessons of a City Builder

Book by an urban planner who worked with Jane Jacobs. I've been meaning to read more of her books - looks like I should add his to the list too.

Read: Jacquline Carey - Naamah's Blessing

This was the last book of the third trilogy by Carey that is set in the land of Terre d'Ange (a Medieval/Rennaissance Europe of sorts). I think the characterizations and love stories are a bit played out by now, and in this trilogy she's tried to compensate by taking them far afield to foreign destinations (Asia, the Americas). It feels a bit strained, although if I hadn't read the first, really original trilogy, I might not think that this book is just a necessary contract fulfillment.

I'm more excited by her upcoming sequel to 'Santa Olivia', her very original sci fi story about orphans, female boxing and genetically modified super soldiers. I think this is where her heart really is at the moment, rather than Terre d'Ange.

Read: David Owen - Green Metropolis, Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability

I picked this book up while visiting the Museum of the City of New York. It was an apt selection from the gift shop, since the book argues that living like Manhattanites (small apartments, transit rather than cars) is the sustainable solution that's been ignored by environmental groups for too long. He's quite inspiring in his claim that anything that makes dense city living more enjoyable and attractive is a boon to the environment. He's a bit one-note on his dismissal of fuel efficiency and road improvement schemes as just enablers for more driving, but makes a good point that the only real deterrents to driving are high price and inconvenience.

Read: Bill Bryson - At Home, A Short History of Private Life

I bought this book in the airport before our flight home from Europe to Toronto. Perfect choice! Filled with lots of fascinating facts, that roll smoothly from one unexpected segue to another. I had read another good book about the history of the home by Witold Rybczynski (Home, A Short History of An Idea) and was worried it would repeat all the same information, but Bryson's book is much more free-ranging, more of an exploration of the history of our modern lifestyles that happens to be worked in around the organizational structure of examining the home. Time flew by as I read the book - it felt like the shortest flight of all our recent travels.

Read: Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall

Hmm. This historical fiction had a bit of an odd plot device. It tells the interesting story of Henry VIII and his divorce of his first wife in order to marry Anne Boleyn, and did a great job of making me appreciate what a difficult and momentous event that was. But it told it from the viewpoint of a commoner, Thomas Cromwell, who ultimately became the king's trusted advisor. Which would be all well and good if the author didn't keep hinting at Thomas' past adventures in other countries which led to giving him the skills to rise far above his station - all of which seemed to be the more unique and intriguing story. A rather frustrating flaw, which in my opinion should have ruled it out from winning the Man Booker Prize, although it's a decent novel otherwise.