This summer I admittedly wanted light reading. With the world in such critical condition and the summer weather so extreme, I just needed a break from my usual heavy history or world events books.
So, I started out with Mark Kurlansky’s The Core of an Onion. A lot of thought was not put into that choice; the author is known to me – he’s a good one having written two of my favourites: Salt and Paper – and I have a “meh” relationship with the subject. It was on the sale table at Book City (as are most of my book choices). In other words, there wasn’t much else that was available at the time, having just finished the very intense Fire Weather, so I picked it up. It was cute; I learned a few things about onions. The recipes at the end weren’t vegan…. That’s really all there is to say.
Then, looking for something else, a person at the bookstore recommended The Soul of an Octopus to me when I was checking out options in the nature section. Lucky me!
Written by Sy Montgomery and published in 2015, this is probably the best known of her MANY books. She writes about nature, obviously, but she does it with a very personal touch. Much like Jennifer Ackerman whose bird books I read on my year off, Sy writes in what I would call a “warming” style. I felt endorphins calming me while I was reading the book on the subway, bus, or streetcar. This book literally made me cry on the subway home during the week before school started this August (2025). No one rushed to help me, just so you know.
Sy befriends humans (employees and fellow volunteers) and octopuses alike at the New England Aquarium where she falls in love with octopuses almost from the start and interacts with them, frequently – literally putting her hands in the water to touch their tentacles, or, rather for them to touch her hands. She is inspired to learn how to scuba dive in order to see octopuses in their natural habitat. And sadly, she experiences the deaths of young Kali and senior Octavia. Probably one of the lasting things I will always remember from this book is the information about the short life span of octopuses, living only one to five years. Nature works in surprising ways; elephants, also very clever animals, live for maybe 60 to 70 years.
Like other readers who have reviewed it, I don’t think this is a perfect book. It’s rather simplistic, especially in comparison to fellow nature writer Jennifer Ackerman’s meticulously researched work, in my opinion. To clarify, I have not read any scientific articles or books about octopuses. It’s a bit anthropomorphic, though humans are generally so in our impressions of the animals closest to us. And, it’s about captive animals rather than wild ones, for the most part. While I admit that I visited many zoos and aquariums when I was young, I haven’t been to an aquarium since 2006 when we went to the fantastic Monterey Bay Aquarium, and I haven’t been to a zoo also since we went to the famous San Diego Zoo on the same trip. As a person (and vegan) who loves animals and nature in general, I don’t love visiting zoos to see animals in unfortunate, cramped captive situations. On the other hand, I have two cats and I ride horses. Am I hypocritical? Probably. Just fyi, I’ve never eaten octopus.
I don’t mind too much that the author didn’t approach the consciousness topic very deeply. I don’t need to be persuaded that animals have consciousness, intelligence, emotions, etc. Philosophy is not something I am interested in. I just live and think and don’t really have a structural methodology to my thinking. So be it.
Overall, on the one hand I loved the octopuses and the cast of human characters who gather round the tanks (and the pickle barrel where Kali lived). And I appreciate Sy’s kindness – she emailed me back a lovely personal note when I emailed her as I almost always do when I finish a book. Though, on the other hand, I didn’t find it to be nuclear physics. That’s okay. I’ll probably pick up another one or two of Sy’s books, and I will try to use some of the writing to lure my students into reading anything other than texts.
Pint of blueberries by original artist Debbie Shirley. She has a fantastic website full of New England nostalgia.
Blue Jay at fountain from a tutorial by Art Sherpa, now sadly deceased.
Dog and Squirrel by Ginger Cook (Art Sherpa’s mom). I gave this to my mom in memory of Violet (a beagle that she dog sat for many years).
From Florida artist Jane Slivka. This type of ‘loose’ painting is very new and difficult for me. Working on it. I love how she encourages the background colours to peek out.
Purple bike for Val. Based on a piece by Sarah Lyttle (her bike was white and had a person on it). The shadows aren’t great but I have to stop fussing with paintings at some point.
This is Violet the beagle, based on a piece by Tatjana Cechun from Art Majeur. It is nearly finished – I have to be brave enough to do the whiskers (definitely procrastinating on that). I’ll give this to Violet’s mom.
Cow From a video by Annie Troe (she loves animals and paints them so well).
Tortoise hatching from tutorial by Art Sherpa.
Owl from a video by Annie Troe. I just can’t quite get this one to my complete liking so he’ll have to do for now.
Trembling aspen fall colour based on a photo by Phillip Colla. I took out a lot of the other leaves that were in the photo so I’m sort of proud of myself for trying to have a better eye.
While it may seem vain to post all these paintings, it really just helps me become better at this skill. I do have a few original pieces but they are not ready for showing quite yet. Happy painting.
Here are some of my favourite reads this year from my commutes to and from school, not including my usual magazines: Scientific American, Canadian Geographic, The Walrus, and Spacing.
The TTC wasn’t perfect this year (I’m talking about you -the Dufferin bus on Thursdays!). But commuting by public transportation allows me time to read! In the age of AI, there is no greater good.
Absolutely the best book I read this year: incredible description of fire, to the extent of personifying fire as a character in this highly detailed and well researched book about the 2016 Fort McMurray fire and about climate change more widely, especially the role of fossil fuels. Also got me much more interested in the Boreal Forest.
Favourites!
A fabulous history book that gave me a lot to think about in terms of incorporating Roman women in my course. Also hilarious! Also tragic. This book is written in a very forthright style and kept me intrigued about periods in the empire that are not my favourite.
Also
An interesting tracing of the impact of epidemics on world history. I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to, but I still enjoyed it. Yes, I know, enjoying books on disease is weird. This book revived my interest in the Mongols.
I tried to get through this one but just found it too dense – and heavy – for TTC reading. I didn’t expect such a scientific approach to history – too much for a.m.
I read this book at least three times and made notes on it during many long morning commutes back when the trip from Yonge/Bloor to Rosedale took 10 minutes! It informed my practice in credit recovery English classes immensely. Thanks to Paul Bryant for lending it to me for nearly the entire semester.
Fun show. Great seats – on the floor right in the middle of the short end! We got to slap hands with every skater. Thanks to my mom:)
Isabeau Levito – a beautiful skaterKeegan, high energy as usual. And what an incredible spinner he still is. His death drop was unbelievable.Jason Brown in the blue coat was high energy and beautiful, as usual.Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud, up close, look like they enjoy skating together.
If you are interested in taking history at York Mills, you have come to the right place. History is a very valuable subject; it’s not about memorizing factoids and dates. It’s about thinking, interpreting, discussing, and inquiring. The skills you gain in senior history courses will help you with any education path you choose because you will always need to THINK!
Grade 10 history (CHC2D), Canada Since 1914, is a mandatory course. It explores events and themes in our country’s history since World World War One. This course is also offered for French Immersion students (CHC2D5).
In grade 11, you can choose between American History (CHA3U) or World History (CHW3M) to the 16th Century. Speak to Mr. Chang about American History.
You can search on this website (Ms. Gluskin’s blog) under the CHW3M tab to see what the course is like. And, read on.
Here are some materials for you to decide if grade 11 World History (ancient civilizations) is for you:
Grade 12 World History starts in 1450, where the grade 11 course finishes. However, grade 11 history is not a prerequisite for grade 12 history.
You can search this website (Ms. G’s blog) under the CHY4U tab to see what this interesting course is like.
Here’s what two of Ms. Gluskin’s former students have to say about taking World History at YM (by the way, one of these wonderful people is a lawyer in and the other was a business consultant and is now working in education administration).
If you would like to ask questions to Ms. Gluskin about World History at YM, she can usually be found in the guidance office.
See you at Course Fair on Wed. February 12, 2025 in room 137.
Don’t forget about all of YM’s senior (gr 11 + 12) courses in the Canadian and World Studies area.
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