May Book Update

Another exciting update of what I've read.

Sima's Undergarments for Women - Ilana Stanger-Ross. This was an okay read, but not that great. It was about the owner of a small lingerie-type shop run by a woman who was infertile but always wanted a baby. She hires a girl ot work for her, and basically becomes her mother.. sort of.

The Scent of Cherry Blossoms - Cindy Woodsmall. No idea what I was thinking. An Amish romance? Um. Enough said. Cheesiest book I've ever read.

The Secret Lives of Dresses - Erin McKean. I loved this book! It was cute and awesome. Full of vintage dresses, romance and good story-telling. Plus, the cover on the soft cover is really cute. :)

Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon. Book two of the Outlander series. I read this one fast, and enjoyed it. Yay romance...

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern. This was by far the best book that I read this month. A friend recommended it to me, and I'm glad she did. The descriptions were incredible, the writing amazing.. I recommended it to R, which isn't something that I'd normally do for a book like this. It was just so awesome! I highly recommend this one.

The Heretic's Daughter - Kathleen Kent. Nothing good to say about this one, really. It took me almost (or over) a month to read it, and I finished two or three other books before finishing it. It was the story or some history of the witch trials in Salem, MA. (At least I think it was MA?). It wasn't a thrilling story, but it wasn't descriptive enough about the events to really be called a history novel. I'm sure others enjoyed it, but it wasn't high on my list..

Wild - Cheryl Strayed.  Book club book. This was a really fast read. It was the story of a girl who, after losing her mom to cancer and getting divorced, decides to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. For those who don't know, this trail follows the mountain ranges of the West coast from the Cali-Mexican border to the WA- BC border. She was inexperienced, which probably makes this book more interesting. It would have been fantastic to have photos of her trip in it, but.. that's life. It made me really want to go hiking somewhere, or do something that I didn't think I could do.

That's all for this month. I'm hoping that in the insanity that is June, I'll have time to read a bunch more. I should.. given the time off and time in the field.

Hike: Brohm Lake

We went camping up near Squamish this weekend, and decided to go for a walk/hike somewhere. I'd noticed the Brohm Lake Interpretive Forest signs, and thought it might be a nice place to take a look at least. It was about a minute up the highway from where we were camping, so if it didn't look nice, really not a big deal.

Although the trails aren't long, there are plenty, with lots of options. We started by walking around the lake, along the way finding a red-naped sapsucker which we watched for a while. Then we headed up to the Tantalus viewpoint. It was pretty hot by this point, having started hiking around noon, it was closer to 1:15 by the time we started the uphill part. It was well worth it though - and what a gorgeous lunch spot!! We ate, and sat in the sun (shade) for a while just reading. Very enjoyable, I must say!

After that, we hiked down a bit further, towards a large marsh that's visible from the highway. I was extremely disappointed in the lack of wildlife though - no birds at all, only some potential amphibian eggs.

After that, we headed back to our campsite. I would recommend this to someone who wants a break from a long drive, or even somewhere to eat lunch. It was goregous and the trail were really well maintained!