End of Reading Week

Hey everyone!

I’m taking a break from this week’s post because it’s the end of reading week, which means that I need to catch up on a lot of reading! I had an awesome time back home in Sudbury, but now it’s back to the books. A new letter will be posted here mid-week. In the meantime, check out the 365 petals page, because there’s a pretty cute new letter right now!

Have a great night!

Books to read… for Reading Week!

Ali and I are in the same city (for Reading Week). This caused two things. First, we ended up chatting until late in the night instead of writing a blog post yesterday (hence the Monday post). Second, we decided to write a different style of weekly post for this special occasion!

 

In honor of Reading Week we have decided to thank 43 authors of books we really enjoyed throughout the years (instead of letter #43).

Nous adorons lire et se perdre dans une bonne histoire.  Voici donc quelques uns de nos livres préférés!  Sentez-vous à l’aise de nous mentionner d’autres auteurs dans les commentaires si vous croyez que nous devrions découvrir quelqu’un d’autre!

By the way, these books are in no particular order, they’re just numbered so that we know we shared 43 authors with you.  Happy Reading Week et bonne lecture!

1. Thanks Stan and Jan Berenstain, for writing the Berenstain Bears book collection. My parents read so many of these books to me as a kid, and they’ll definitely be on my children’s bookshelves in the future.
2. Thanks Douglas Coupland, your unique writing style that incorporates your background as a visual artist in the way you present your writing, your outlook on the tech sector (eg. Microserfs, JPod), and your take on modern life is refreshing. Thanks!
3. Merci Eugène Ionesco, j’adore tes pièces de théâtre qui capture le ridicule et l’absurde de la vie quotidienne, de la logique et du langage pour pousser à la réflexion, faire rire et créer des inconforts.  La créativité de Rhinocéros pour aborder le thème de conformité fut quelque chose que j’ai très apprécié!
4. Thank you Sharon Stewart, for writing My Anastasia. I read that book a dozen of times over grade seven and eight, and not only did it get my very interested in Russian History, but it was so touching and made me cry every time.
5. Thank you Sarah Dessen, for writing a lot of books I love, but especially for writing The Truth About Forever. Love stories and happy endings have always been my favourites, and you wrote the happiest ending to the sweetest love story a girl could hope for.
6. Thanks J.K. Rowling, like the rest of the world, I also devoured each Harry Potter book (and was secretly hoping to get a letter to go to Hogwarts on my eleventh birthday).
7. Thanks William Easterly, your work is very well-written and approachable while still tackling important issues with depth.  The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done so Much Ill and So Little Good is one of those books that everyone should read.  Legit.
8. Thanks Gordon Korman, for writing my favourite book ever: I Want to Go Home. That book is one of the only ones that can make me laugh out loud, no matter how many times I’ve reread it.
9. Thanks Ann M. Martin, for writing the Baby-sitters Club series. It inspired me to be organized like Mary Anne, creative like Claudia, and to dot my I’s with hearts like Stacey.
10. Thanks George Orwell, as most would agree, 1984 was a genius book.  I found it truly beautiful and I especially enjoyed your thoughts on how language affects the way people think.  Thanks for making grade 12 English so much better.
11. Thanks CrimethInc., Days of War, Nights of Love is also one of the most important books that I have read during my teenage years and has pushed my views of the world.  It’s inspiring, beautiful, creative, and full of novel ideas.
12. Thanks Margaret Lawrence, for writing The Stone Angel. That book inspired some of my best English essays and projects!
13. Thank you Margaret Atwood, for writing The Handmaid’s Tale and Oryx and Crake, books with stories that are horrifying, but just possible enough to be true. They sucked me in, and made me think.
14. Merci Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, tes livres se savoure comme de la poésie.  La prose de Terre des hommes m’a souvent fait penser et rêver.  Merci pour la beauté de tes écrits.
15. Thanks Randall D. Knight, Physics, for Scientists and Engineers Second Edition, a Strategic Approach has a long title. This all encompassing physics textbook, might seem to be boring due to the title but it’s actually a killer book written with a clear pedagogical approach.  It is impossible to spend time with this little gem without learning a great deal.
16. Thanks Dave Eggers, for writing A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. It was really different from what I’d ever read before, and I always feel really smart when you mentioned in pop culture references, because then I actually get them!
17. Thanks Ishmeal Beah, for writing the true account of your time as a boy soldier: A Long Way Gone. Your story is eye opening, but still written with hope.
18. Thank you Wilson Rawls, for writing Where the Red Fern Grows. It was by far the best book I was forced to read in elementary school.
19. Merci Martin Laporte, tes Pensées Du Jour, sont vraiment, vraiment, vraiment drôle.  Merci de m’avoir fait rire à plusieurs reprises!
20. Thanks Muhammad Yunnus, you have the brain to create intelligently, the heart to innovate meaningfully, and the guts to make it happen.  Thanks for creating Grameen bank, the micro-financing giant and for putting your story in Banker to the Poor.
21. Thanks K.A. Applegate, as a kid, I loved your Animorphs series.  I must have read at least fifty of them.  People that transform into animals to fight aliens, what a great idea!
22. Thanks Eric Dudley, it shows that you know what you are talking about in The Critical Villager.   Your take on development is honest and practical and will stay in my brain for a long time.
23. Thanks Judy Bloom for writing stories about growing up and being a girl. A lot of your books made me smile, and made me realize my mother was not always trying to ruin my life.
24. Thank you David Wroblewski for writing The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. One of the most captivating books I’ve read over the last year, I was simply smitten.
25. Thanks Marina Nemat, for writing Prisoner of Tehran. It’s a memoir that inspired a work of fiction that I later did, and it’s a book I reread from time to time, to gain some perspective.
26. Thanks Michael Crichton, you’re a prolific writer, and that’s great!  Your science-fiction stories are always based on solid scientific research and thought-provoking analysis, but are still incredibly entertaining.  I recommend State of Fear to everyone.
27. Thank you David Myers, for writing Psychology. It’s one of my favorite textbooks because the info is really cool, and the way you write is super accessible.
28. Merci Robert Dickson, merci pour ta poésie, ton travail dans la communauté franco-ontarienne et ta passion.  Humains paysages en temps de paix relative est un livre à lire, à relire et à lire encore une fois.
29. Thanks Robert J. Sawyer, thanks for incredible science-fiction books that also tackle social issues.   You’re a proud Canadian, and seeing your novels set in our cities is great (being from Sudbury, it was especially enjoyable to read the Neatherdal Parallax happening in my hometown).
30. Thanks Jared Diamond, when I read Guns, Germs, and Steel in my early teens, it helped redefine the way I saw the world.  Thanks for writing an accessible, holistic, thoughtful, and thought-provoking book.  This is definitely a must read!
31. Thank you Caroline Keene, for writing the Nancy Drew series. Even though some of them scared me enough to have to leap from my doorway onto my bed so that any murderers hiding under my bed wouldn’t see that I was in the room, it’s an awesome series with strong characters.
32. Thank you D. J. MacHale, for writing the Pendragon series. Each novel of the ten part story ended with a cliff-hanger, and came out every year or two, which gave me something to always look forward to.
33. Thanks Kurt Vonnegut, for writing Cat’s Cradle. The issues of religion, science, and technology were tackled in a beautifully written way.
34. Thanks Vic Bloom and John Goldwater, for creating the Archie Comics. An Archie comic was the very first “book” I ever read, after my mom brought it to me when I was sick.
35. Thanks Dan Brown, you’re a best-selling author for a reason, your books are great!  I’ve particularly enjoyed Deception Point, which showcases another side of your writing.
36. Thank you Laura Ingalls Wilder, for keeping amazing memoirs that were turned into an amazing series: Little House on the Prairies. I loved reading about life as a pioneer, and I can remember getting the entire series in a box set and thinking it was the best Christmas gift ever!
37. Merci Frederick D’Anterny, ta série Storine , c’est vraiment bon!  Grâce à toi j’ai pu voyager à travers la galaxie quand je n’avais même pas encore un permis de conduire…
38. Thanks Isabel Allende, for writing The House of the Spirits. That was one of the first “grown-up” books that really captivated me, and made me want to read more adult literature.
39. Thank you Kazuo Ishiguro, for writing Never Let Go. I finished the book on my way from Ottawa to Sudbury three days ago, it made my 10 hour bus ride much more enjoyable.
40. Thank you Lucy Maud Montgomery, for writing Anne of Green Gables and creating the character Anne. I wanted to be just like her, so I practiced spelling and started saying “bosom friend” all the time.
41. Thanks John LeCarré, Absolute Friends is one of the only books that I have read twice in my life.  The complexity of your stories and the depth of their contexts are incredible.
42. Thanks Ken Follet for writing Pillars of the Earth. It was a long enough book to keep me entertained for more than a week and I learned a lot that’s currently relevant to me Medieval History course.
43. Thanks Eoin Colfer, for writing the Artemis Fowl series. I’ve reread those books a dozen times, and always get excited for Artemis’s brilliant last move.

Phew! That’s it, merci et bonne semaine!

Letter #42: Organizers of the OEC!

What’s the OEC you ask? Well that’s the Ontario Engineering Competition!

Last weekend I had the chance to be at Western University to spend a weekend of engineering fun that included many design challenges, experts to network with, and… an epic game of laser quest (nerdy, I know, but oh sooo fun!).

The volunteers at the event were great! The weekend was seamlessly organized and had a wonderful theme: Engineering a better world. It’s pretty awesome how the organizers added a substantial level of depth by asking us to question why we design things in the end.

While I have nothing against the myriad of engineers that I know who currently focus on learning to design fast iPod apps to make a few quick bucks, it was refreshing to see a focus on redefining the problems we want to solve.

So… here’s this week’s letter, appropriately printed on Engineering Computation Paper and now I’ll dive back into studying for midterms!  Good luck to all of you in a similar situation!

Oh, and if you have an interest in designing to solve solutions to problem in the development world, I invite you to check out the Build-a-Change challenge.  If you have an idea in the back of your head, they offer resources to make it become a reality.

Happy Sunday!

MA

Letter #41: Martha

Hey everyone! Today’s letter is to Martha, someone who’s been a bit of a mentor to me over the past sixth months! Read about all the fun things we’ve done together in the letter:

And now I’m going to bed! Because I shall be hitting up the gym tomorrow morning at 7:00am. For the sake of seeing a friend and … you know…healthy active living and all that jazz. Wish Marc luck studying for physics (he hardly needs it though. He’s kinda an engineering champ) and have an awesome start to your week on Monday morning! Hopefully one that’s a little less sweaty than mine promises to be.