I’ve developed a coffee house habit in the last few years, doing much of my writing surrounded by the cacophony of hissing espresso machines, moderately loud music, overheard conversations and the clink of glasses and dishes. This new habit surprised…
Writing on the Wall
I am an inveterate collector of quotes, now on my second thick journal full of passages I’ve gleaned from books, newspapers, magazine articles, and conversations. The quote journals are fun to reread occasionally, as the phrases and sentences I’ve selected…
The Feel of a Good Book
I was stunned to receive the first copy of my new book, Bee Time: Lessons From the Hive, in the mail the other day. Stunned because it is beautifully produced physically; in all the tumult of writing and revising and…
On Reading Anne Fadiman
I had to pause after reading the first chapter of Anne Fadiman’s spectacular 2007 book At Large and at Small: Familiar Essays. I had checked it out of the library, but this is one of those books that must be…
“The Bees” by Laline Paull
There’s a new novel out that’s climbing the bestseller charts, The Bees by Laline Paull, with worker bee Flora 717 as its main character and a fast-moving plot that reads like a Stephen King thriller. Paull’s book is reminiscent of…
The Book I Didn’t Write
I didn’t write a book a decade or so ago, titled Seeds at the time. It was going to be about, well, seeds. I had in mind a book that would cover topics such as the biology of seeds and…
Knitting, Legos and Writing
Yes, I am a sweateraholic. One of my favourite sweaters came on a beekeeping jaunt to New Zealand, at least 15 and possibly closer to 20 years ago. I must have gotten a particularly wistful look on my face every…