Enter the Darkness

As we head into darker days and longer nights, we celebrate what scares us. Perhaps, in our fear, we will cling to each other to keep safe until the daylight comes. Or perhaps the darkness will follow us - as Del Toro wishes - home.

Here are three of my favourite spooky things from this year:

1. "Time Warp Saloon" from Epidsode 2 Lost in Time https://spookedpodcast.org/
2. The Ghost Box from Hingston & Olsen https://www.hingstonandolsen.com/store/the-ghost-box
3. The AGO's Guillermo Del Toro Exhibit: At Home with Monsters https://ago.ca/exhibitions/guillermo-del-toro

His Bloody Project

His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae by Graeme Macrae Burnet
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Coincidentally, after I finished this book, I listened to a CBC program about Indigenous issues in Canada. Both the book and the interview shared the following aspects:

-19th century racial theories;
-Colonial control over native peoples (in the book's case, the English over the Highlanders);
-and the power struggle between people who are kept under the heel of others.

The powerlessness of Roderick Macrae is what has stuck with me. As Bob Rae said in the interview: "People need the power to control their own lives" or else tragedy follows.

So despite my lack of an "a-ha moment" while reading the novel, I found I gained insight upon digestion.

FYI link to the Interview: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/outintheopen/...

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The Storm

The Storm by Neil Broadfoot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fast-paced and sometimes gory crime story set in Edinburgh, Scotland - with a visit to the Isle of Skye. Part of the fun of this book is to see notable places mentioned and to hear a Scottish voice telling the tale. I thoroughly enjoyed being back in Scotland again.

The murder investigation is told from two points of view: one, a scalawag journalist; and two, a bright, ambitious police officer who doesn't fit into the mold. Even though Doug and Susie are kept apart in this book, their relationship is revealed and further complicated by the introduction of Rebecca to the series. To make matters worse in this triangle, Susie and Rebecca are friends. How could you, Doug?

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