reading

I have mentioned it before, that when I travel for panels or conferences, it takes me a few days to get back into blogging.

Day trips actually get to me more than transatlantic or transcontinental trips. At least I can sleep if the trips are more than 4 hours long. On short trips, I rarely get to rest --even at the hotel. I guess I am a creature of habit that is sensitive to change.

Which explains my kids comment from the other day.

When I travel I get "penalized" for my absence. I don't think The Kids mind my absences so much as their father who then ... ahem ... disappears during the evenings for the next few days after one of my business trips.

This changes the dynamics of evening reading since, due to his work schedule, that's become his one job in the evenings. And it's one job he usually does as I prepare for my second shift of work in my usual 10-12 hour work days.

When one of my students is “stuck” for something to write, I have them do a “top ten” list—they pick the topic. The rules are, you select the ten items on your list, with a reason why it’s loved.

For example, one of my students wrote a “top ten favourite breakup songs” list that was fabulous—and included the poignant reasons why each of the songs had, in some way, been part of her own breakups.

Having said that, I wanted to take a crack at this with my ten favourite historical fiction novels. BUT, I refuse to rank them, because at the time, each of them were important to me.

So in no particular order: