Book & Bramble - April 2023

Image Description: The red rock wall at Cabot Beach, featuring a new hole that offers a peek at the water beyond.

        May 7, 2023

Book & Bramble - April 2023

A Letter from Caitlyn Paxson
Dear Reader,

For some reason it feels like an exceptionally long time since I last wrote to you! Maybe it’s because I travelled this past month, or maybe it’s just the anticipation of waiting for true spring to arrive. Whatever the cause for the feeling, I hope you’ve been well in the meantime! 

Image Description: The red rock wall at Cabot Beach, featuring a new hole that offers a peek at the water beyond.   
 The cats also send their warm regards, but only if you offer them belly rubs. 

Image Description: Monty looking dapper with his paws crossed. The Contessa peering down from her haughty perch atop the tall bookcase. Bruce oozing out of his basket.   

Reading

I read so many books in April but I can’t tell you about them because they were all for reviews that aren’t published yet! But I did squeeze in a re-read of a book I don’t think I’ve revisited since I was twelve years old – Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.
 I vividly remember reading a copy from my school library – the opening line is burned into my brain: “In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three.” I read that as a folklore obsessed adolescent and thought, this author knows what she’s talking about! I’m very happy to report that the book absolutely stands up to a return visit – though it is much stranger than I remembered. It tells the story of Sophie Hatter, an eldest sister bespelled into a much older version of herself by the Witch of the Waste. Unbound from her former rather unfulfilling fate, she seeks out a wizard called Howl and his strange, ambulatory castle and inserts herself into his affairs, which turn out to have also been her affairs all along. 
 I think a lot of people are familiar with the movie adaptation by Hayao Mayazaki, which is also excellent, but very different from the book. For one, the Howl of the movie is much more heroic and smouldery than the Howl of the book, who spends much of his time pouting, coughing, and grousing about things. I mostly did this reread because I keep seeing people compare various heroes to Howl, and I wondered which Howl they meant, and if my own memory of him had been shifted by the film. It had! Though I think that as an adult, I find book Howl more endearing, though not as an object of romantic fancy. 
When I decided to reread this, I knew I wanted to buy a copy for my personal library, and I fully expected that there would be some sort of fancy edition with cute endpapers and maybe a diagram of the castle. It’s a classic, and a popular one, given the movie. Imagine my surprise that no such thing seems to exist – not even an ordinary hardcover edition! So this is me putting it out there that someone enterprising at Harper Collins needs to get on that! 

Image Description: The Contessa models with a very ordinary paperback copy of the book.   
 I also have an exciting book-related work announcement! I have managed to combine my love of history and my love of books by creating a book club for Beaconsfield Historic House! The program is in partnership with Pride PEI and PEERS Alliance, and we’re reading one queer historical romance novel each month of the summer! I love all three of these books (and have recommended all of them here before), and I’m so excited to talk about them with readers! 
If you want to follow along, I plan to include each month’s discussion questions here in the newsletter!

Image Description: Poster for the Beaconsfield Book Club: Queer Historical Romance Society   

Travelling
This month I made the journey to Michigan to see my family, and it was a lovely visit. There’s something about Lake Michigan that sings to my heart.

Image Description: Lake Michigan, wind-whipped and shining.   
My folks live in a beautiful area, and I love sitting on their deck to commune with all the trees. We tooled around the little northern towns, ate lots of great food, and enjoyed each other’s company.  

Image Description: Tall trees against the darkening sky.    

Crafting
I also took advantage of the fact that Michigan was further along into the spring season to make my Wreath of the Month while I was there. It’s mostly made from forsythia, with touches of cherry blossom, ivy, and a few other odds and ends. The base was an old antler crown that I made for a Renaissance Faire many, many years ago, which had been tucked away in a closet ever since.  

Image Description: The yellow-flowered crown in progress, then lying finished on a bench.   
I enjoyed scampering around in the woods behind my folks’ place to take pictures, and only freaked out one dog-walker in the process. I even convinced my beautiful mom to take a turn with the crown, and I think it suits her!  

Image Description: Me in the yellow flower crown, then my mom taking a turn!      

Gardening
I know I said I’d try to document the process of soil blocking my seeds this year, but then I didn’t! It is more labor-intensive than dropping soil into plastic trays, but the seedlings also seem healthier and I like that is uses less plastic. My little plants are coming along nicely, though I still have a lot more to start as we get closer to our last frost date (after which it’s safe to plant everything outside), which isn’t until June 10 here on the island! I’m not expanding my veggie or cut flower beds this year, but we are putting in a new landscaping bed along a fence we want to hide, and I’m excited to see how it turns out. We used the same method to create is as the flower bed last year – cardboard over the grass, then compost on top. 

Image Description: A new garden bed in progress.  

A few days in and May is already proving to be a very busy month, full of museum work, gardening, and more books (of course). I can’t wait to share it all with you next time! 

Image Description: Rippling sand where the tide has gone out.  

Until next month, wishing you the best books and the most berry-full brambles,
Caitlyn

I write this from the traditional unceded territory known as Mi’kma’ki. Two books by Indigenous authors that I really enjoyed recently are To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose and Saints of the Household by Ari Tison. 

(All opinions expressed in this newsletter are my own and do not represent my employer.)