Hi book friends. I’m sorry to say we received some very sad news this past week that my Dad had a bad fall in his cottage in California late overnight into Tuesday and was taken to the hospital. My siblings and I flew to be with him. Unfortunately he was unable to overcome his injuries and passed on Wednesday afternoon. It is a shock and devastating and comes about a year after my mother’s passing. He was a very special person to us and loved dearly by so many who knew him. So I’m going to be taking a bit of a blogging break for a couple weeks while I’m away in California. I would usually do an April Preview now, but I will need to postpone. I wish everyone a peaceful and good reading month and thanks for your kind thoughts.

Hi all. The sad news is my mother in California passed away on April 15, so I’m currently taking some time to reflect and help my Dad and siblings with arrangements. I am glad to have been in California visiting my parents at the time. I appreciate all your kind thoughts and will be back shortly to talk about all things books and reading. Many thanks.

I’m away for a couple weeks visiting battle sites in France and paying respects to soldiers who fought for freedom. Above is Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial in northern France, which contains the graves of 6,012 American soldiers who died while fighting in this vicinity — a hundred years ago this year — during World War I. I’ll have more to come when I get back. Next up we visit the beaches at Normandy. Thanks for stopping by, I’ll check in with you soon.

I’ve been away this past week and unplugged of gadgetry. My Hub and I are bicycling in Quebec on a self-supported tour and are enjoying the scenery. I plan to be back shortly after a few final days exploring Montreal. So I will talk to you soon. Meanwhile happy trails and reading. I’m interested to hear what books you are delving into this week and what you think of them?

My husband and I leave tomorrow for a bike trip along British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island. Rain or shine, we will be out pedaling and seeing the sights. The ride is organized by our local bike club and 15 people will be cycling the route. Needless to say we are quite excited for this adventure.

It’s definitely a neat part of the world. Have you ever been? Here’s a map of some of the places we will be going.

Although at this time of year “the Sunshine Coast” might get more rain than sunshine, we have plenty of rain gear to wear along the way. We’re prepared for wet conditions as long as there’s not a deluge of Noah’s Ark proportions.

I figure if the landscape is green, mossy, and overcast, it’ll likely be good reading weather at the end of each day. I’m bringing along a 2010 novel that my book club picked to discuss in May titled “Annabel” by Kathleen Winter.

She’s a Canadian author, and the novel is about an intersex child who’s raised as a male but whose shadow-self — he thinks of as Annabel — is never entirely extinguished. “Annabel” was shortlisted for both the Giller Prize and the Orange Prize for Fiction. So I think it’ll be quite good.

Perhaps it will have similar themes to Jeffrey Eugenides’s 2002 Pulitzer prize-winning novel “Middlesex,” which I still need to read, especially since I enjoyed his 2011 novel “The Marriage Plot.”

Anyways, I’ll chat more once I get back. Until then, happy reading and happy adventures!

I will be visiting Italy for a couple weeks and will write when I get back. Ciao!!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! Yes, today is the day. It’s a bit strange for me, too. How do you celebrate Thanksgiving before Halloween? It doesn’t seem totally natural, but this way I get two Thanksgivings, one now and one at the end of November. So it’s pumpkin pie with double the trouble. To celebrate it, we are going to the mountains and should have a scenic day and a turkey-day feast with friends.

The update on Stella the puppy is: she is growing by the minute and she’s up to all sorts of mischief, including chewing on whatever she can get a hold of. She’s also getting many good walks and enjoys playing, power-napping and meal time. She’s quite a joy and is learning the rules of the house. Speaking of which, apparently, the dog-whisperer Cesar Millan is coming to our town next month for a seminar on dog training (unfortunately no canines are allowed at this), but if it’s anything like his book “How to Raise the Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond” I’m sure it’ll be a helpful resource.

As for other reading, I’m slowly making my way through Markus Zusak’s “The Book Thief” and should be done soon. No excuses for my tardiness, other than just life. I’m hoping the best for Liesel Meminger and will see what happens to her at the end of the terrible war.

Meanwhile, we’re flying through Season 2 of “Downton Abbey” on DVD. We’re pretty hooked on the show and are sorry that Season 3 won’t begin till Jan. 6, 2013; is this some kind of crime or what? Instead we’ll have to switch over to Season 3 of “The Walking Dead” to get our zombie fix starting on Oct. 14. Wow won’t miss it!

Until then, enjoy your Sunday activities, football and the MLB playoffs on this lovely day of Thanksgiving, on which I’m grateful for so much.

We received a new addition to the family this week! She’s a 10-week-old yellow Lab, tentatively named Stella. She’s already a great joy to the household, so now we are just working on potty training 101 and getting her to sleep through the night. She is a quick learner so things are looking promising. Here she is below catching some zzzz’s.

In book news, I’m just reading a crime/thriller fiction novel called “Snow Job” by William Deverell for my book club on Tuesday. It’s a bit of a spoof on Canadian politics, involving an incident in Central Asia that leads the country to the brink. With colorful characters, it’s sort of just fun. More on it later. But so far, there’s nothing too deep book-wise this week as we have our hands full here at the moment.

What does your reading week look like?